Blood Dimmed Tide
by jrrm64
Summary: AU. Someone from Tony's past rises up to set him on a different course in life. There will be murder, angst, and TIVA.
1. Chapter 1

**Blood Dimmed Tide**

**An Inspector DiNozzo Story**

_The blood dimmed tide is loosed _

_And everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned_

_The Second Coming by W.B. Yeats_

**Prologue**

The body was found in an ink black alleyway. Porcelain doll eyes and a humorless smile marred the victim's beautiful face. She was dead. Murdered. That face was familiar, too familiar, though, but he couldn't remember who she was. Her identity to him was like a melody of a hit song stuck in his head but he couldn't remember the name of the song. It was there on the edge of his consciousness, but he couldn't quite remember. All he knew was that she was beauty and she was someone he knew.

Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo woke with a start and a muffled cry. He sat up to find he was on an unfamiliar sofa in an apartment that was not his own. His breathing was ragged and he was sweating. It was then that he noticed he was dressed in the pants to his Armani suit and was wearing a white Eton dress shirt. He wouldn't be asleep in these clothes unless he was too drunk or too tired to get undress.

"Tony," he heard a familiar voice say his voice in grey darkness of apartment.

She put on a hallway light, which cast of long shadow of light parting the greyness. He looked over his shoulder at his beauty partner, Special Agent Ziva David. She was wearing sweat pants and a blue NCIS tee shirt. She made her bedclothes look sexy, even though that wasn't her intention. Her black hair was down and wild just as he liked it and her dark brown eyes filled with concern, just as he didn't like it.

"Sorry, I had a nightmare," he said then thought for a second. "How did I get here?"

"Abby, McGee, you and I went drinking after work. You took an allergy pill and after two scotches were goofy," she smiled and sat down beside him. "We agreed that my apartment was closet, so here you are. You know you are too heavy to lug around."

"Sorry about that," he sighed then he stared down at the wood floors of her apartment.

"Bad dream?" she asked.

"Disturbing," he answered.

One word answers from Tony meant trouble. Ziva knew this all too well, just as she knew him all too well. He was her partner, friend, bane of her existence at times, and maybe something much more. She tried not to think how much he meant to her. Before she could ask him what was disturbing about the dream, his smartphone in his pocket started singing _Goodbye Charlie._

His sea green eyes looked at her with humor in them and a smile on his lips, "Bobby Darin. It's Gibbs."

"What song and singer am I?" she asked, as he took his smartphone out of his pants' pocket.

"Sinatra. _Luck be a lady_," he said and his smile grew. "Yeah, Boss."

"_Body of a female marine in an apartment in Foggy Bottom. I'll have McGee text you the address," _he stated.

"Sure, Boss. I'll call Ziva," Tony said then Gibbs hung up.

Ziva got and exited to her bedroom to get dress leaving Tony alone. He ran his right hand through his sandy brown hair and sighed. That dream hadn't quite left him yet. It still hung around him like a morning fog.

"I guess I should get dressed," he said.

NCIS

The apartment was a luxury modern apartment building, not really the type you'd find a female marine dead. Maybe it was the type of place you'd find a dead ambassador lying dead in the bathtub or one of the beds. Tony was the last to arrive on scene, even though he left Ziva's apartment before her. He went and got himself a coffee and drank it before showing up, since he didn't want Gibbs to think Ziva and he were breaking any of his rules.

"Hey, Boss," he said as walked past a couple of Metro cops and into the luxury three bedroom apartment.

McGee was kneeling beside the body of the marine with a mobile fingerprint scanner, while Ziva took photos. Dr. Jimmy Palmer and his new assistant Angela Santana where waiting to examine the body. Now that Ducky was in semi-retirement, Jimmy was in their new ME. Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs looked over at Tony. His steel blue grey eyes glared at him as he looked over his Senior Field Agent.

"You haven't been home yet, DiNozzo," he stated the ex-marine in his gunny voice.

"Nope," said Tony.

Gibbs looked over Tony's shoulder at a new arrival. Gibbs could tell from the man's uniform and the rank markings on his collar, he was going to be a pain in the ass. Tony thought he almost heard his boss growl.

"Special Agent Leroy Gibbs," the salt and pepper haired man said.

"I'm Gibbs," Gibbs said.

"I'm Commander Vincent Amara of Metro Police," he said. "This apartment belongs to Assistant Secretary of State Jeremy Salt."

"Glad to hear. Now we know who to question," Gibbs snapped.

"Listen, Gibbs…," Amara started to speak again.

Tony closed his eyes. His Boss was about to get into a pissing contest with the local LEOs. Sometimes he thought Gibbs did it just to give him something to do because he always had to deal with the LEOs afterwards.

"Special Agent Gibbs," growled Gibbs.

Before both men could unzip and really start pissing, McGee interrupted them.

"Boss, she's not in the database. I don't think she's a real marine," he said, as he stood up.

Gibbs, Tony, and Amara walked over to the body. Tony looked down at this faux marine. She had dead porcelain doll eyes, a humorless smile on lips, and a red silk tie around neck. Tony felt slightly nauseous. His nightmare had come to life.

"We have to find out who she is then," said Ziva.

"If she's not a marine then we have to find out, not you," said Amara.

"I know who she is," Tony spoke up.

Ziva looked at him with concern, while McGee, Amara, and Gibbs waited for him to continue. He didn't continue.

"Have you slept with her DiNozzo?" asked Gibbs.

"No," he growled. "I saved her life from a serial killer thirteen years ago. Her name is Janet Treanor. She must be twenty-nine years old now or was."

He looked up at Gibbs with dark and angry eyes.

"She's the reason Wendy used to call me her hero cop. The serial killer was nicknamed Valentino. He used to find and seduce girls from the age of sixteen to twenty, drug them, have his way with them for a few days then strangle them with a red silk tie," explained Tony in a voice that either was on the verge of angry or bitterness.

"So, this serial killer must be active again," said Amara.

"No. He's dead. I killed. I found him about to strangle her and shot four times in the chest. She was going to be his fourth victim," said Tony.

"You're Detective Tony DiNozzo, aren't you?" asked Amara.

"Yeah, I am," he said staring at Treanor's dead body.

"Someone must have wanted you to find her, Tony, otherwise why dress her in a marine uniform," McGee said.

Gibbs looked at his SFA. He knew Tony well enough that his agent was already blaming himself for the death of this young woman. It was his nature to blame himself for events outside of his control.

Commander Amara had first heard of DiNozzo was he was a Philly cop and took down the Macaluso Family in an undercover operation. He was under long enough to the Macaluso family to be embrace as family and put in the line of succession for Don. When the Philly Police and FBI finally took the family out, DiNozzo left Philly for Baltimore as a homicide detective. His reputation kept growing until he joined some FED agency then he sort of disappeared off the map. Amara looked at the man in the rumpled Italian suit and thought it was a waste for him to be NCIS. He was a cop not some Navy Fed. In the morning, he needed to do some investigating about DiNozzo with NCIS.

"I guess she belongs to us," said Amara. "I'd like to talk to you Special Agent DiNozzo about this Valentino Killer to see if you can give us some leads."

Tony reached into his pant pocket and took out his wallet. He found one of his NCIS business cards and handed it to Amara.

"Call me when you need to talk to me," he said.

"Thanks, DiNozzo," said Amara then he moved in close to Tony. "I can see this is sickening your stomach. You killed Valentino, so this must be some sick fucking cop cat. This isn't your fault. You can't stop sick bastard from being sick bastards."

"The Thin Blue Line, huh?" said Tony.

"Hey, once a cop, you are forever a cop," said Amara. "It scars you that way."

"Yeah, I know it," said Tony.

Ziva and Gibbs both could sense the beast awakening in DiNozzo. The beast was the Tony who took on the guilt of the world and became obsessed with righting some wrong that he thought was his fault. This was at his most self-destructive; it was also Tony at his most dangerous.

"Okay, pack up. We are out of here," said Gibbs then he looked at Amara. "I'd like to know why she was in the marine uniform other than to draw DiNozzo's attention."

"Sure," said Amara.

Gibbs then turned to speak to Tony, but he was gone already. Ziva packed up the camera bag then she stood up, and looked for Tony too see that he was gone.

"Gibbs, is Tony alright?" she asked him.

Gibbs looked at the empty space which Tony once filled and shook his head.

"He will be. He is resilient if nothing else," said Gibbs.

She wanted to believe him, but something inside of her told her that Tony was not going to be resilient over this one. He just had that look in his eyes, which made her worry about him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One**

Tony spent the weekend ignoring most phone calls and watching old film noir movies like _Laura_, _Maltese Falcon_, _The Big Sleep_, _Touch of Evil_, _Strangers on a Train_, and _Journey into Fear_, and drinking a fine aged single malt scotch. Somehow, the movies made him feel better with the bleakness towards the human condition. The image of Janet Treanor kept disturbing his sleep, so he had plenty of waking time to watch movies and drink. She was one of those he had saved, so she wasn't supposed to end up dead like this.

By Monday morning, his mouth felt as if it was filled with cotton balls soaked in alcohol and his stomach was knotted from hunger and anxiety. He hadn't eaten much during the weekend, only a few slices of cold pizza that were in his refrigerator. Looking at his smartphone, he saw that he had fifteen messages, fifteen reminders for him not to spend the weekend doing what he did. He was glad he ignored them. Janet Treanor needed his mourning. He owed that much.

Getting out of bed, he showered, but he didn't bother to shave, which left him with a few days growth of beard. He then dressed in jeans, a chambray shirt, loafers, and a light black Armani blazer. Once he had clipped his Sig Sauer and NCIS badge to his jeans, he found his car keys and Ray-Ban sunglasses and headed out. By the time, he parked his blue 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, which he drove with its top down since it was a beautiful summer's day, in his spot near Ziva's red Mini-Cooper.

By the time he got to his desk, McGee and Ziva were missing, as was Gibbs. He set down his backpack, locked up his gun in his desk drawer, and then he walked over to the vending machines in the hallway by the elevators. Pulling his wallet out, he found a couple of unwrinkled dollar bills and stood there trying to make a choice all chocolate or something with chocolate and coconut filling.

"You are late," Ziva whispered in his ear making him jump out of his skin.

"Jesus, don't do that. I'm getting to that age when men have heart attacks when they are surprised," he said.

She leaned back on the wall opposite the vending machines and smiled.

"You are not that old," she said with a smirk.

"I feel old after this weekend," he growled.

"You did not respond to my calls all weekend," she said.

"I was busy," he replied as he looked over the candy bars.

"Getting drunk and feeling guilty," she said.

"Don't make fun of my hobbies, they're all I have," he growled then chose a candy bar.

His attempt at humor made Ziva frown. He put his dollar into the slot but it came back out. Trying again, it came back out. Instead of trying a third time, he placed his hand on the side of the vending machine, rubbed it, then he slapped it hard and his candy bar dropped. He fished it out, opened it, and took a bite.

"Where's McGee and Gibbs?" he asked, as he turned and looked at Ziva.

"McGee is down in Abby's lab and Gibbs is upstairs with Director Vance and Commander Amara," she said.

She saw his face go pale. He'd spend the weekend thinking about that woman and now it was coming back to him at work. She didn't know how to make him feel better.

"I am here for you, you know?" she said.

"Thank, Zi," he finished his candy bar. "I'm going up to see what Amara wants."

She watched as he strode away. Ziva's instincts told her that she should stop him, but she didn't listen to them. Her instincts told her a great many things when it came to Tony and she didn't listen to them.

Striding past Cynthia's desk and opening Vance's office door, he walked into the Director's office to see Vance, Gibbs, and Amara sitting at the Director's conference table. They looked as if they were arguing. Gibbs glared at DiNozzo for entering.

"Can I help you Special Agent DiNozzo?" asked Vance.

"I heard Commander Amara was here and I thought he might want to talk to me," he said.

"That's not your decision, Agent," said Vance.

"I'm going to talk to him with or without your permission," said Amara.

Gibbs turned his attention towards Amara, "He's my agent."

"He's a cop and he knows I need him for this. She was the first, but he knows there are going to be more now," said Amara.

"Commander Amara, the cooperation between Metro Police and NCIS has always been good. I'd hate to see that change," threatened Vance.

"What's going on with your case, Amara?" asked Tony.

"We've got no DNA or trace evidence to go on. We did get a call left on our hot line that I think you should hear it for yourself," he said.

Amara took his smartphone out of his pocket, played with it for a moment, and then played the message.

"_You found my work. Think of it as a gift. Now I want you to give me a gift. I want to play with Baltimore's Detective Batman. I heard Robin is dead and Batman caught his killer, so he still must be good. I want to play with Detective Batman," _the voice said.

Amara looked at Tony, "You are Detective Batman. Some Baltimore reporter wrote about you and your partner and called you Detective Batman and Detective Robin. This nutcase wants to play with you. He wants to go up against you."

"Ahh, shit," mumbled Tony.

"I was telling Commander Amara that we have no authority on this case and we can't even legally open a joint case," said Vance.

"In other words, stay out of it, DiNozzo," added Gibbs looking at his Senior Field Agent.

Gibbs knew DiNozzo was feeling guilty and he wanted to save him from doing something he'd regret. Tony stared at Amara. He knew the Commander had a solution to this problem and it was not one that neither Vance or Gibbs liked.

"You can return to work now, Agent DiNozzo," said Vance.

"No, I can't," said Tony then he nodded to Amara. "What is your solution?"

"For three years I've been bitching about starting a Major Crimes Unit to take the crap no one else can deal with and deal with it. Our new Chief likes the idea. We've started recruiting detectives, but we don't have a leader for the department yet. How'd you like to lead our Major Crimes Unit, Special Agent DiNozzo?" asked Amara.

"Are you saying the only way I could work on this case is to take your job offer and leave NCIS for Metro PD?" asked Tony.

"I asked them for a joint operation but it can't be done legally. The alternative is that you come to work for Metro and capture this bastard," said Amara.

Tony stared at Amara for a moment then at Gibbs. They had been together now twelve years. There was no one he trusted more than Gibbs. He might not be completely content with the team lately or his role on it, but they were family. Family. Tony didn't have a connection to his real family, so this improvised one was important to him. Yet, Janet Treanor died because of him, because some psycho wants to play with him. She deserved that he did his best to catch that psycho.

Amara turned the message on again and played it. Gibbs had to fight the instinct to grab the smartphone away from the man and throw it against the wall. Amara was using guilt against DiNozzo. He could see DiNozzo frozen standing there like a statue.

"I can offer you an Inspector's badge and command of the Major Crimes Unit. I bet that even a raise from what you are making, Agent DiNozzo," said Amara. "I know your background, did a check, and talked to Chief Ransom about you. The offer is on the table and you have forty-eight hours to make up your mind about it."

"Why me?" asked Tony.

"Besides the fact he wants to play with you, as I said I checked your background. You are a damned good cop. Yeah, you've done some good things here, but you can help a helluva lot more people as a cop and train some cops to be better than they are," he said. "Plus, this creep wants to play with you."

Amara stood up and first at Vance then at Gibbs, "Gentlemen, thank you for listening to me."

He walked over to Tony and handed him his business card then walked out of the office. Tony stood there staring at the business card.

"DiNozzo, get to work," growled Gibbs.

"Sure, Boss," he said then slipped the card into his jeans and walked out of the office.

"I know you think I don't like DiNozzo, but I'll be damned to lose him to Metro Police or anyone else. He's a good agent, even if I don't agree with his methods," said Vance.

"He's better than good," said Gibbs.

"Maybe so, Gibbs, let's make sure he doesn't take the Metro PD offer," said Vance.

"I need to find out about this Valentino case," said Gibbs.

"You do what you have to do, Agent Gibbs," said Vance in a voice that told Gibbs he had been dismissed.

NCIS

They spent the day on paperwork and cold cases. There was tension in the bullpen for one reason and one reason only: DiNozzo was quiet the whole day. There were no movie references, no shooting of rolled up pieces of paper into the garbage can, no teasing of McGee, no flirting with Ziva, and no whining about having to work. All day long, he worked and worked quietly, which made both Ziva and McGee and Gibbs concerned. He was seriously thinking over the offer made to him.

When it came time to call it a day, Tony stood up and grabbed his backpack then his Sig Sauer. Gibbs didn't even bother to look up from his paperwork.

"You are coming in shaved tomorrow, aren't you, DiNozzo?" Gibbs said.

"Of course, Boss. My face will be as soft as a baby's behind," smiled Tony.

He started out of the bullpen and towards the elevator, when Ziva quickly caught him. As he got on the elevator, she slipped past him.

"I see that you are using your ninja skills, Zi," he said.

"I wanted to talk to you," she said then reached over and pulled the emergency stop.

The elevator jerked stopped. The last time the elevator jerked like that, they had been in the elevator when the bomb went off. They spent many hours in each other's arms comforting each other and getting closer. She taught for a moment their Tony was going to admit that he loved her, but they were rescued and after that life got in their way and Tony found his proper distance from her once again.

"What is it, Ninja?" he asked.

"I thought you might want to talk," she said.

"I'm fine, Zi," Tony said.

"I am willing and wanting to listen if you need someone to talk to you," said Ziva.

"I'm okay," he said then started the elevator up again.

"Really?" she asked him.

"Really," he smiled.

"I'm here for you if you need someone to talk to," she said.

"Thanks, Zi," he said then reached over and gently touched her cheek.

The doors of the elevator opened and Tony walked out unaware that he left Ziva blushing from his touch.

NCIS

After selling his beautiful home, Ducky purchased a two bedroom condo in Georgetown. He was most happy to have this smaller condo after his heart attack. There were no stairs to worry about and maintaining the place was a mere phone call to either the company that maintained the building or Gibbs. He was sitting having a hot cup of tea and contemplating diner with there was a buzzing of his door. Getting up, he went to the intercom.

"Hello," he said.

"_Hi, Ducky, it's me, Tony. Can I come in_?" he asked.

"Of course, Anthony," he said and buzzed him into the building.

Within moments, Ducky opened the door and saw Tony standing there with a brown paper bag full of food.

"I brought dinner," he smiled to Ducky. "I went to a Japanese restaurant and got us steamed vegetables, rice, teriyaki boneless, skinless chicken, and shrimp with noodles."

"Remarkable healthy selection you've picked," chuckled Ducky.

Ducky showed him to his dining room tables. Tony placed the bag down.

"I thought all things considered that eating healthy is something you need to do and something that I might consider doing," Tony said.

"Excellent choice, dear boy," said Ducky.

Dinner passed with light conversation, some gossip, and catching up. Ducky enjoyed having Tony as a guest, but he also could tell something was on his mind. Once tony cleared the table and brought the dishes to the kitchen, Ducky retrieved a bottle of ten year old Laphroaig and poured them each a glass. When Tony exited the kitchen, Ducky was waiting for him in the living room. He handed Tony a glass of scotch then motioned him to sit on the sofa as he sat in the armchair.

"Alright, Anthony, now that we have a libation, you can tell me what is on your mind," Ducky said.

"A young woman I saved when she was a teenager was murdered and this murderer wants me on the case, but it's not an NCIS case," he started.

"Is this murderer connected to the original case?" asked Ducky.

"I don't think so," said Tony. "Metro PD offered me a job."

Ducky looked at Tony smiled. He understood the man in front of him better than most. Even now, he still was listed as Tony's medical proxy and next of kin.

"Does the job interest you, Anthony?" asked Ducky.

"Yeah, it… it's a great job. I'd be running their Major Crime Unit," he said.

"You'd be in charge," smiled Ducky,

"Yeah, I'd be the Boss," said Tony.

"But you'd have to leave that which you have become most comfortable with," said Ducky.

"I've stayed at NCIS longer than anywhere I've ever been," Tony said.

"I know," smiled Ducky. "It's home; it's family."

"I know, but I feel obligated to catch this guy," he said.

"Because he killed someone you once saved or because he has decided to engage you in his evil fantasy?" asked Ducky.

Tony sipped the scotch then smiled grimly, "Yes."

"If we are your family, Tony, we will remain so even if you move on to another job. Yes, it will cause some growing pains and hurt some feelings, but it should not destroy your fundamental relationship with Jethro or me or Dr. Palmer or Abby or Timothy, though it may have a beneficial effect on your relationship with Ziva. You will no longer be toiling under Jethro's rules," smiled Ducky.

"Are you saying I should take the job?" he asked Ducky.

"No. I am saying that you should not put up false obstacles. If you do this then you must do it because you either need to or want to," he said.

"Ducky, if I did this, if I took this job, would you be available for consulting work?" he asked.

"For you, Anthony, I would work Pro Bono," said Ducky.

"I'm glad I came here tonight, Ducky," Tony toasted him.

NCIS

Gibbs was pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee in his kitchen when he heard the doorbell ring. He walked over to the door and opened it. Wendy Miller was standing there.

"Wendy," Gibbs said.

"I was surprised to get a call from you asking me to drop by your house," she said.

She followed Gibbs into his living room. He pointed to the sofa and sat down in an armchair. Gibbs sipped his coffee.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine, Agent Gibbs," she said. "I know you didn't ask me here because you missed my sparkling personality. Is there anything wrong with Tony?"

"Tell me about Valentino," Gibbs said.

He watched as Wendy suddenly paled and became nervous. Before speaking, she took a deep breath.

"Finding and killing Valentino almost destroyed Tony. He couldn't sleep, he didn't eat right, and he drank too much. He was completely obsessed with finding him and stopping him. Gibbs, it was Tony's behavior during this search for Valentino which convinced me not to marry him back then. I didn't break it off right away, but I kept thinking about how he acted. I knew I could lose him not only to bullet, but to a case. It scared me back then," she said.

Gibbs let out a long sigh.

"And this Janet Treanor who he saved, how did he act with her?" asked Gibbs.

"For the next six months he kept a close eye on her until he was sure she was alright. He'd visit her now and again just to talk to her and told her parents to call him anytime if she needed him. It was like he felt responsible for her because he saved her life," Wendy told him.

It was becoming clearer and clearer that keeping a reign on DiNozzo in regards to this case was going to be almost impossible.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Two

Tony left Ducky's feeling better about the idea of accepting Commander Amara's offer. As always, it might be Gibbs' support that he needed, but it was Ducky's advice that made sense to him. He spent some time during the day finding out about Janet Treanor. She went to Georgetown graduating with a degree in child psychology. After college she worked as a social worker, married a Metro PD cop, Dennis Malloy, had a daughter who they named Antonia, and seemed to live a happy life. _Antonia, she couldn't have named her after me_.

Just the thought that she might have named her daughter after him caused his eyes to sting with tears. She had never forgotten him. _She should still be alive. It's my fault. I need to catch this bastard, no one else but me. I have to make this right. _

Parking his car in a spot near his apartment, he got out and walked along the shops and restaurants of 18th Street NW of the Adams Morgan neighborhood. Stopping in front of the brick townhouse, which housed his apartment, he unlocked the door and let himself into his two bedroom first floor apartment. After putting on the lights and the air conditioner, he sat down on his large comfy sofa. The air conditioner slowly cooled down the overheated living room, as he sat there and tried to make up his mind.

"Bite the bullet, DiNozzo, you have to talk to Gibbs," he said then he took out his smartphone and speed dialed Gibbs.

"_Gibbs_," his Boss answered.

"Boss, I need to talk you. How about breakfast tomorrow?" he asked.

Gibbs exhaled. He knew what was coming and he knew he needed to deal with the right way or he'd lose DiNozzo, not as his SFA, but as part of his surrogate family.

"_The diner at six-thirty. You called me, so breakfast is on you_," said Gibbs.

"You got it, Boss," he said then hung up.

Sleep wasn't going to come easily. After tonight, his life was going to change radical, so probably nothing will come easily. He needed to watch a movie to make things feel, something that will take his mind off of the everything. Getting up, he walked over to his wall to wall bookcase that had nothing but DVDs and Blu-Ray DVDs in it. He walked along the bookcase and finally stopped and pulled out a DVD, _Body Heat_. He smiled. _Steamy film noir couldn't clear his mind then nothing could. _

NCIS

The diner was located under the overpass. It was Gibbs' favorite place to get coffee and a meal, but mainly coffee. Only a few people knew about it: Fornell, Ducky, Abby, and Tony. It was Gibbs' special place. When Tony arrived, wearing a tan, Brioni suit, light blue dress shirt, red silk tie, and he was clean shaven, Gibbs knew his agent had made up his mind. The tension in his shoulders also told him that Tony didn't think Gibbs would like the decision. Now he had just to make sure it was what DiNozzo really wanted to do.

"Hey, Boss," Tony said, as he slipped in the booth across from Gibbs.

There was already a mug of coffee waiting for Tony. He tasted it and it was the way he liked it, light and sweet.

"I ordered you the same as me," said Gibbs.

"What is that?" asked Tony.

"Steak and fried eggs with potatoes and toast," he answered.

"I'm starved," smiled Tony. "I had dinner with Ducky last night."

"You needed his advice," said Gibbs.

"Ducky's always given me good advice. I trust his advice," said Tony.

"So, you're taking the job the offer. Tell me why," said Gibbs.

"I checked Janet out. Did you know she married a cop?" Tony asked sadly.

"Didn't know," said Gibbs. "It doesn't necessarily mean anything."

"That could just be a coincidence, probably is, but she has a baby girl. She named her Antonia. That can't be a coincidence, can it?" he asked his boss.

Gibbs closed his eyes. He had to let Tony go. Tony had to make this right not only for himself but a Janet's husband and daughter. He understood that.

"What do you need from me, Tony?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't…," Tony paused for a moment as he looked for the right way to say what he felt. "I don't want to lose you, Boss. I'm afraid of losing you."

Gibbs smiled. He motioned Tony to lean forward then when the younger man did, then he slapped the back of his head. Tony grimaced then sat back up.

"You can't lose family, DiNozzo. You are my family. Our Thursday night dinners are still our Thursday night dinners. My door is still open to you, and I'm still there when you need me," Gibbs said.

He saw Tony's body relax, which made Gibbs smile.

"If you need help, you know to call me, Tony. Don't hesitate, call me," Gibbs said.

"Thanks, Boss. I feel better now. I was afraid was going to lose you and I didn't want that," said Tony.

"We've been together too long, Tony. I won't be your boss any longer," said Gibbs.

"You'll always be my boss, Boss," smiled Tony.

Gibbs knew what he meant.

"We'll eat and then you have to talk to Vance," said Gibbs.

"Yeah, but first," he said then pulled out his smartphone and dialed Commander Amara. "Commander Amara, it's Tony DiNozzo. I'm taking the job."

NCIS

When Ziva walked into the bullpen, Tony's backpack was there and his desk was clear. She didn't like that. He was never early and he was never neat. She looked over at Gibbs desk and he was immersed in paperwork.

"Yes, Ziver," said Gibbs without looking up.

"Is there anything wrong with Tony?" she asked.

"Nothing is wrong with him," Gibbs said then he took off his reading glasses and put them down on his desk. "He's going to need our support, Ziver, not as his teammates but as family."

She dropped her bag and sat down. She knew what this meant and she couldn't believe it.

"He's leaving us," she said.

"Yup," Gibbs said. "We talked and this is something he has to do."

Ziva had never really considered working at NCIS without Tony. She had teased, even felt like a better agent then him at times, but he was always there for her. Without realizing it, she depended upon him. He was always there for her.

"He's doing the right thing. It's going to be hard on him, but it's the right thing," said Gibbs.

She nodded to Gibbs, but didn't say a word. She couldn't say a word. Someone had stolen her voice. Just then, they heard the voices of McGee and Abby having a friendly argument along with Jimmy. It seemed that Bree, Jimmy, Abby, and McGee had dinner together. They had wanted to invite Tony and Ziva yesterday, but they left too quickly. As they entered the bullpen, McGee looked at Ziva and Gibbs and knew something was up.

"Anything wrong, Boss?" asked McGee.

Gibbs looked up at the mezzanine and saw Vance and Tony coming down the stairs. He didn't' say a word, but thought he'd let Vance take it from there. Vance and Tony stopped in front of Gibbs' desk.

"I should file a complaint against Amara," Vance said.

"He saw an opportunity to get someone who is good and did it. I can't blame him," said Gibbs, "though I think that I'll kick his ass the next time I see him."

Vance smiled then he looked at the gather group.

"Well, you might as well know that as of immediately, forging the two weeks notice he owes me, Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo is now Inspector Anthony DiNozzo, Head of their Major Crime Unit, of the Metro PD. Your MCRT will be off rotation for a few days so you can get adjusted," Vance announced.

Abby gasped then her eyes filled with tears. She ran at Tony and threw herself at him hugging him with all her might.

"You can't leave us, Tony," she said.

"I'm not leaving your life, Abby, just NCIS," he said softly to her. "I'll be around. We can have dinner and drinks. I'm not leaving DC."

He kissed her forehead then waved McGee over to him. When McGee got close enough, he transferred the crying Abby into his arms then patted his shoulder. He then dropped the keys to his desk on Gibbs' desk.

"Can someone box up my personal stuff and I'll pick it up when I get a chance? I have to meet with the Chief of Police and Commander Amara. They want me to get to work right away, including meeting who they have so far for the MCU," he said.

Gibbs nodded yes. Tony looked at Jimmy, who was smiling.

"Gonna miss you, Black Lung," said Tony.

"I'm going to miss you, Bandit," laughed Jimmy.

Tony then shifted his eyes to Ziva. He opened his arms up towards her hoping that she get up and hung him. Ziva slowly stood up and walked into his arms. He enveloped her and she melted into him.

"I didn't go to Somalia as a NCIS agent. You've always meant more to me than just being a partner. I hope you know that, Zi," he whispered in her ear.

She nodded her head and she was still feeling overwhelmed with emotion.

"If you ever need me, I'll be there for you. Whenever you need me, I'm there," he whispered then kissed her hair. "I can't live without you."

He released her then took his hip holster off and placed it on Gibbs' desk.

"My service revolver is on my desk," he said. "I gotta go."

"Get going, DiNozzo. Call me if you need me, otherwise I'll see you Thursday even for dinner," Gibbs said.

"Thanks, Boss," said Tony.

He strode away leaving his backpack. It was filled with NCIS things, things he'd no longer need. He wanted to get out of there as quickly as he could because DiNozzo's don't cry and he was about to shed a great many tears.

Vance looked at Gibbs and nodded, "You need a new Senior Field Agent."

"McGee, the job is yours until you prove to me you can't do it," said Gibbs.

"Thank you, Boss," said McGee.

"You'll also need a new member to your team. I'll send you down some personnel files to read," said Vance.

"Send them to McGee, Director," said Gibbs. "If he going to do Tony's job then he has to dive right in."

Vance looked over at McGee and smirked, "Good luck, Agent."

NCIS

Commander Amara and Tony entered Chief Ransom's office. She was in her full uniform sitting behind a large, deep reddish brown mahogany desk. Tony gaged that she was an attractive blond haired woman, who was a year or two older than him.

"Commander Amara spoke highly of you, Mister DiNozzo," she said.

She reached into her desk drawer and took out a badge and a service revolver. She slid them across the desk to Tony.

"Or should I call you Inspector DiNozzo," she said.

Tony took the badge and clipped it to his belt then checked the service revolver. It was a Glock 23. He slid the gun back into the holster.

"Thank you, ma'am," he said.

"I reviewed your record and it is impressive, which is why we were able to hire you so quickly and easily," she said.

"I look forward to getting to work, ma'am," he said.

"After we talk you'll go to personnel and file out forms then Amara will take you to the waterfront," she said.

"Where we have our evidence warehouse, we've purchased another warehouse and have turned it into the MCU's headquarters. The construction work is done except for a few minor things. It won't be too big a change for you since the warehouse is not far from the Navy Yard," explained Amara.

"How many detectives do I have?" he asked.

"Six so far and two unies assigned to you," Amara said.

"I need to talk to a Detective Dennis Malloy," he said.

"Janet Treanor's husband?" asked Amara.

"Yeah," answered Tony.

"I'll arrange him to visit MCU once you're set up there," said Amara.

"Also, I've got one of the top MEs in the country. He's willing to work Pro Bono," he said.

"Why do you think you'll need him?" asked Chief Ransom.

"Because he's the best and I want to catch this bastard," said Tony.

"You going to have to work on more than one case at a time, otherwise we can't justify the MCU," she said.

"I understand, ma'am," said Tony.

"Commander Amara will transfer the case file for the Treanor murder and evidence to you as well as the case file for a serial rapist that has been grabbing women in Anacostia Park. So far there have been four women raped and beaten," Ransom said.

"Yes, ma'am," Tony said, "we'll get on both cases."

"Good," she smiled. "I expect you to do press."

"Briefings, pressers, or interviews?" he asked.

"All three," she answered. "You are not only running MCU, but you are going to be one of the poster boys for Metro. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Not a big fan of the media," Tony said.

"Learn to love them," she said. "You'll report to Commander Amara for now."

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

Ransom looked at Amara, "Go make him official, John, then introduce him to his detectives."

"Yes, ma'am," smiled Amara.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Three

"We meet the MCU people then the Chief has already arranged a quick presser to introduce you," Amara said.

"I'm going to hate the press part of this job," sighed Tony.

"Shit, it's going to come so easy for you. You are good looking, and you know it, and you've got a movie star smile. Presser is going to be a cakewalk for you," said Amara.

They sat in the back of an unmarked Ford Crown Victoria. This was Commander Amara's on duty vehicle. His driver was a uniformed officer, who also acted as his bodyguard. The car pulled up beside a warehouse on the waterfront. The two men got out and walked over to a door with data pad lock. Amara punched in a code then looked at Tony.

"Remind me to give you the code," he smiled.

"That would be helpful," he said.

They entered the warehouse. The inside was still under construction but so far, a squad room with ten desks had been set up, as well as an office. In front of the office was another desk with a young woman sitting behind it. Still being worked on was a lockup, lunchroom, and some interview rooms, as well as a locker room and a small work area.

Detective Lieutenant Jason Hawes, who had twenty years on the job, ran his hand over his baldpate then stood up and walked over to the Commander and Tony. He offered Tony his hand.

"You must be the new boss," he said. "The name is Jason Hawes. Co-workers call me Hawes."

"Glad to meet you, Hawes," said Tony. "Inspector Tony DiNozzo."

Inspector? The title made Tony feel like an English detective or maybe Columbo. It was going to take some time to get used to it rather than Special Agent Tony DiNozzo. He looked at the squad room. Seven of the ten desks were occupied in the squad room.

"Are we fully staffed?" asked Tony.

"Still down three detectives and only have to unies assigned to us," said Hawes.

"Okay, let's meet the troops," said Tony.

Hawes led the way with Amara and Tony following behind. The squad room area was wide open with partitions or walls, which Tony liked. The rest of the area being constructed was going to have walls, hallways, and give the impression of a normal building, but the squad room and his office took advantage of the warehouse setting.

Hawes clapped his hands to get everyone's attention, "Everybody, this is our boss, Inspector Tony DiNozzo."

One by one, he met his detectives ending with his administrative assistant Jenna Yost. Amara then escorted him into his office letting Tony spend a few minutes sitting behind his new desk.

"We got eighty minutes before the presser. You want to give some orders before we go," said Amara.

"Do me a favor and stay here," said Tony.

"Sure," replied Amara.

Tony got up and walked out into the squad room. He looked at Detective Sonny Washington, Detective Den Muffat, and Detective Reena Santos.

"Washington, Muffat, Santos, I'm putting you on the serial rapist in Anacostia Park. The case file and evidence is on the way here. For now, I'll leave it to how you want to investigate. If you want to try a decoy, I'm fine with it, but you better add some unies," said Tony.

"Who takes the lead?" asked Washington.

"You asked, so you take it," said Tony.

Tony then turned away from the three and looked at the rest of the detectives.

"The rest of you are working on the Valentino wanna be. The case file including message he left are on the way here," said Tony. "I'll take the lead with Hawes as my second. We have little evidence so far, so I want you to take what we have and go over it and over it. Find something, anything. Remember, this bastard killed a cop's wife."

"Should we talk to the cop?" asked Hawes.

"You and I will talk to him tomorrow," said Tony.

"Here or at home?" asked Hawes.

"At home. He's not a suspect, so I don't want him treated like one. Got it," said Tony.

Hawes nodded.

"I really want this bastard," said Tony.

NCIS

The press conference was held in the Hilton's conference room. The Mayor, Chief Ransom, Commander Amara, and Trip stood up on the platform. As the Mayor spoke, Trip looked out at the throng of press in the room. Some were local, some were from cable stations, but all were part of the pack mentality. Male and female they looked like a ravenous beast to him looking to eat up whatever story there was and regurgitate it without putting much thought into it.

Gibbs knew how to manipulate the media. Tony knew that he didn't have the same touch as his Boss. Hell, he managed to have a _Laura-_like crush on the woman. When he finally found her, she had been poisoned and was dying. He spent the last few hours of her life with her making her feel better then he went to Gibbs' place and got loaded.

Looking at the podium, he noticed that Chief Ransom was finishing up her little speech and was about to hand it over to him. He took a deep breath and put his best million-dollar smile on his face and walked over to the podium and microphone.

"Well, first up, I'd like to thank the Mayor and Chief Ransom for everything they have said about me," Tony said. _Too bad, I was paying no attention and have no idea what they said about me. _

"I think you know my biography, so instead of me trying to find sound bites to entertain you with let me take some questions," Tony threw out the suggestion to the media, who treated it like chum and they were sharks.

"Inspector DiNozzo, why would you leave a federal agency for a police department?" Asked a reporter.

"I started as a cop. I've always thought of myself as a cop," he answered then leveled his best smile at the reporter.

The Mayor and Chief Ransom knew they had a winner. Amara smiled.

NCIS

McGee was busy moving his computer to Tony's desk when Balboa came into the bullpen. Gibbs looked up at him.

"Your boy is on the TV at a press conference. He's a natural," said Balboa.

"McGee, change the channel to a local station," growled Gibbs.

McGee did it as he was ordered as quickly as possible. Ziva looked up from her work. On their plasma screen was DiNozzo taking questions.

"Inspector, is it true that DC might have a serial murderer on its hands?" asked a female reporter.

"As the head of the newly formed Major Crime Unit, I can tell you that we are just now starting to have cases sent to us. So far there is no serial killer on my desk," he smiled.

Vance came walking down the steps and into the bullpen.

"Who knew he was a natural with the press?" said Vance.

Gibbs nodded but didn't say anything, as he watched Tony handle questions. Ziva watched and felt a strange combination of emotions. Part of her was proud of Tony for stepping up and taking this job. She knew he felt responsible for the death of Janet Treanor. Another part of her was angry with him for leaving the team, for leaving her. He had always been there to protect her six. Even during their first undercover mission together as married assassins, he was willing to give up his life to protect her. No matter how bad things got with them, she somehow always remembered that simple, overwhelming fact.

"Is it true that you were the point guard for Ohio State when they played the final four in Baltimore?" asked a reporter.

"Yup, that was me," grinned Tony.

"You played football for them, too, right?" added the reporter.

"Quarterback. I blew out my knee last game senior year kissing any chance of going pro in football or basketball away. Yet, I've never regretted it because I found a real vocation being a cop," he said.

"Ahhh," groaned McGee, "he's going to be insufferable."

"Too bad, he won't be here tomorrow to bother you, McGee," snapped Ziva.

"Hey, Ziva, I didn't mean to get you angry," said McGee.

"I am not angry," she fumed then lowered her head and went back to work.

Vance looked over at Gibbs, who didn't react. He knew that Vance never understood the chemistry of his team and how important DiNozzo was to it. Some called him Gibbs' lapdog, but a description was Gibbs' whipping dog. He took the brunt of Gibbs' angry and obsessions and kept the team's morale up with his fooling around. There were times Gibbs would watch him clowning around and saw the price he paid. DiNozzo was no clown. He already missed him.

NCIS

Tony sat in his new office reading the two case files, as well as the personnel files of his officers. The detectives seemed capable enough. He just didn't trust them because he didn't know them yet. That would have to come in time, though he doubted he'd ever had the same relationship with them that he didn't with MCRT.

Hawes appeared in his doorframe, "I'm heading out for the night. My wife told me to bring home takeout."

"Pizza?" asked Tony.

"No. Thai food. My fourteen year old son loves it and my twelve year old daughter doesn't eat anymore," he sighed.

"Good luck with that," said Tony.

"Evidence finally showed up. I had it locked up in storage," said Hawes. "I thought we'd go through it tomorrow piece by piece."

"Okay, tomorrow," sighed Tony.

"I listened to this creep's tape, though, today, and I gotta tell you I think you need a twenty four seven bodyguard," said Hawes.

"Nay. I like my space too much," Tony said. "Bodyguards cramp my style."

"Well, see in the morning, Inspector," said Hawes then he walked away.

Tony looked at his watch. It was six-thirty in the evening. He promised himself he wouldn't work past seven-thirty.

NCIS

The neighborhood was teeming with life. He parked his Camaro and headed into his apartment. As he opened the front door, one of his neighbors was checking the mailbox. She was an attractive young woman. Tony smiled at her.

"I saw you on the TV today," she said. "My name is Jordan."

"Hi, Tony," he said.

"You sure you don't want me to call you Inspector DiNozzo," she said with a laugh in her voice.

_Oh, God, I think she's a badge bunny. Four years ago, I'd jump on her but not now. _

"Well, Jordan, have a good evening," he said.

"Hey, Inspector, if you ever want to go out for a beer just buzz apartment six," she said.

"Sure," he smiled and entered his apartment.

The moment he entered the apartment, he knew something was wrong. His lights were all off but his air conditioner was on. He went for his sidearm, but out of nowhere, he was Tasered. Tony fell to the floor. He was Tasered again and again and again until he was unconscious.

He wasn't sure how much time passed but he finally opened his eyes. He was sitting on his sofa with his hands and his feet duct taped. Sitting in his armchair was a man in jeans, a long sleeve white dress shirt, leather gloves, and a rubber Halloween Sean Connery mask.

"He's your favorite James Bond, right?" the man asked.

"He's the best," said Tony.

"Well, Detective Batman, you have picked up the gauntlet I've thrown. This is going to be fun," he said.

"There is nothing fun about killing someone," said Tony.

The man laughed. It was a high pitch staccato laugh.

"Killing is pleasant not fun. You see playing with you is fun. And people have to know we are playing. They have to know that it is me against you," he said.

"Who are you?" Tony asked.

"If you are now Inspector Batman then I guess I'll call myself Enigma," he said. "Next, victim will set the ground rules and introduce our game to the press. You and I are going to play this game in the light of day not hiding it in the shadows."

"I got an idea why don't you eat me," snarled Tony.

"I think Batman is a little over hungry and tired. It's been a long day. I'll go now but you'll know when I'll be in touch. It will be obvious," he said.

He got up and walked to the front door stopping before opening it.

"Remember this, Batman only wins in the movies and comics. In real life, he loses," said Enigma.

He opened the door and left. Tony growled in frustration then brought his duct-taped hands up to his mouth and bit through the tape. Once his hands were free, he got his smart phone out and called Hawes.

"_Hawes_," he answered.

"I need some crime scene techs at my apartment, Hawes. Our potential serial killer has paid me a visit," he said.

"I'll be right there, Inspector, with some CSI boys. Try not to disturb anything," Hawes said

Tony hung up and groaned in frustration. _Enigma, my ass. _


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Four

The crime scene team went through Tony's apartment looking for trace evidence. Tony stood in his kitchen sipping a glass of scotch, while Hawes kept me company.

"He knows me from a serial killer case in Baltimore, the Valentino case. It appears he identifies with a particular article written after that was solved in which the reporter called me Detective Batman and my partner Detective Robin," explained Tony.

"I'll send Holloway and Justiz tomorrow to Baltimore to start working the case from the Baltimore angle," Hawes said.

"This Enigma probably was a kid in Baltimore, who cheered for Valentino then fixated on me after I killed Valentino. The article became his way to imagine me as his adversary. By calling me Batman he fed into the kid's warp imagination," said Tony.

"Are you a profiler?" asked Hawes.

"Nay. I took a seminar in profiling once a very long time ago," Tony said.

"Sounds like you could have been one," said Hawes.

Tony looked through the open space that had a counter he used to have his breakfast at most mornings, but that also allowed him to look into the living room from the kitchen. He had been a crime scene investigator and detective with NCIS for so long, that it felt odd letting a separate team handle the task.

"You need a twenty four seven bodyguard team," said Hawes.

"No, I don't," said Tony.

"Inspector, if I told Commander Amara about this he'd insist on a car and a security team for you. You are a superior officer in danger," said Hawes.

"I don't want one," growled Tony.

"You'll get one once Amara hears about this and with a crime scene team here he can't help but hear about it," said Hawes.

Tony sighed. A bodyguard and driver were just putting someone in the line of fire if Enigma decided to kill Tony. He didn't like that idea.

"I guess Justiz and Holloway can check with Health and Human Resources for the City of Baltimore about minors who were placed in therapy because of fixation of Valentino," said Tony.

"They'll be thorough. We were picked for MCU because we are all good detectives, Inspector," smiled Hawes.

Tony took a sip of his scotch and nodded. If he was working with his old team, he'd feel the need to make jokes and lighten the air, but now he just felt all his focus should be in the cases. He understood Gibbs a little more. The man at the top couldn't afford to joke around too much or care about team morale.

"Hawes, from here on in you are official my number two. You seem to have taken the role instinctively so let's make it official and known," said Tony.

"I have no problem with that," he said.

"Sorry I took you away from your family," said Tony.

"I'm not. My daughter Lisa has a new crush and my son Jason has decided he doesn't want to play sports any longer," said Hawes.

"Was he any good?" asked Tony.

"Captain of the junior varsity basketball team and a decent wide receiver," said Hawes.

"If you need an old jock to talk to him, let me know. The chance to play competitively is with us for only a short time. If you don't take advantage of it, you end up with regrets," said Tony.

"I might have you talk to him," said Hawes.

A crime scene person came into the kitchen. Tony and Hawes looked at him.

"Inspector, we need a sample of your fingerprints, hair, and blood, we can exclude you from what we collect," he said.

Tony sighed, "I hate giving blood."

NCIS

Gibbs sat at his desk going over the requisition forms that McGee filled out yesterday. Beside his desk was the box of Tony's belongings. He sighed as he read the forms. Tony used to come in at midnight or one in the morning, do his reports and requisition forms then leave for a few hours of sleep. Even though Gibbs gave him a hard time, he understood why his SFA was always late for work. He looked over at McGee, who was going over personnel files for a new probie for the team.

"Fifty boxes of disposable rubber gloves, McGee," he said.

"I thought I'd double Tony's order so we didn't have to order as often," McGee answered.

"And where are we going to store fifty boxes, you're apartment, McGee," growled Gibbs. "We have room to store twenty five plus other supplies. DiNozzo had the proper amounts."

He held out the requisition forms. McGee got up and retrieved the forms.

"Fix the amounts to the right ones," ordered Gibbs.

Ziva looked up at McGee and saw that the back of his neck was red from embarrassment. He was going to need a thicker skin than that if he was going to survive Gibbs. She gave him an encouraging smile.

"Yes, Boss," said McGee, as he returned to his desk with the paperwork.

"Don't try to improve what Tony did, just learn them," snapped Gibbs. "DiNozzo knew what he was doing."

"Yes, Boss," said McGee.

Gibbs stood up and walked from behind his desk.

"I need a coffee," he said then he strode away.

Ziva looked over at McGee. His face was red, as he tried to deal with Gibbs' outburst.

"He misses Tony, McGee. This is not about you," said Ziva.

"He expects me to be Tony," McGee said.

"No, he doesn't. Tony is like a son to him. They are closer then we realize. They have dinners together and celebrate holidays with each other sometimes. Gibbs does not want to lose Tony," Ziva said.

"I know they were close, but I'm always surprised at how close they are," said McGee. "I think in some ways he's even closer with Tony then he is with Abby. He's just overprotective with Abby and… sometimes with you."

Ziva smiled. Abby and she were the surrogate daughters. Tony had broken rule 12 with EJ and Paula Cassidy, but he never would do so with Gibbs' surrogate daughters, no matter how much he wanted to break that rule with one of them. Ziva knew that Tony wanted her, maybe even loved her, but he always found a reason to pull back and she thought the real reason was her relationship with Gibbs.

"You want to go to lunch today?" McGee asked her.

Ziva rousted herself from her own mind.

"Sure, McGee. You can pick the place," she said.

NCIS

The crime scene boys were checking some DNA from his apartment, but so far, there was no trace evidence. Enigma was careful. He was also someone who knew Tony better than Tony liked. As he sat on his officer, after a conversation with Commander Amara that made him accept a car and driver, who would act as bodyguard. The only good thing he could come up with was the fact that he'd be able to pick the driver.

The car would be an unmarked Chevrolet Impala. As for the driver, he walked up to Officer Kevin Wayne, who was assigned to MCU.

"Wayne, do you have a life?" Tony asked.

"Not much of one," he said.

"Tomorrow I need you to pick up an unmarked Impala from the motor pool. You are now my driver and the Impala will be my off hours car. Also, wear a jacket and tie tomorrow and not a unie. Do you have a problem with that?" he asked him.

"No, sir," said Wayne.

"Good," said Tony.

The rest of the day passed with his detectives working on the two cases they had in their laps. Hawes managed to get everyone on their toes and working their asses off. Tony called Ducky and made arrangements to have dinner with him that night. He was going to bring the autopsy report and all other information they had. He'd let the old master look at the reports and see if he could gleam some information no one else could. Hawes entered his office without knocking.

"Inspector, I just got off the phone with Dennis Malloy. He wants to come in tomorrow and talk to you. The man is pretty torn up," Hawes said.

"What time?" he asked.

"Noonish," said Hawes. "The man is a detective in robbery. I did some checking and he is supposed to be excellent at his job. He's a good man."

"Thanks, Hawes," said Tony.

"Don't thank. I'm just doing my job," he said.

"The keep it up," smiled Tony.

NCIS

Ducky had a meal of grilled chicken, glazed carrots, and brown rice waiting for Tony when he arrived. He had one rule and that was no shoptalk over dinner. At dinner, he wanted them to just enjoy themselves.

"Fascinating how life changes on a dime for us, isn't it? I thought I'd be the ME at NCIS until I was placed on one of my slabs, but that has changed," Ducky said.

"I thought I'd take the team over from Gibbs eventually," said Tony.

"And become Jethro," smiled Ducky.

"Well, not become him," said Tony.

"But you were becoming him. Yes, you don't have a basement and can't do woodworking, but you have a great deal in common as Jethro," said Ducky.

"Really? Are you trying to say my life was going to be my job and my job alone?" said Tony.

"Anthony, you need more than work to fulfill you. You need love," said Ducky.

"It might be too late for me to have that, Ducky," said Tony.

"Balderdash," smiled Ducky. "Love is close at hand for you if you are willing to reach out for it."

"You know that you really aren't my type, Ducky," chuckled Tony.

"And the feeling is mutual, Anthony, but Miss David is a different story," he said.

Tony put his fork down and sighed. There were so many issues to deal with when it came to Ziva. Their history with each other was turbulent, complicated, and painful at times. Plus, she was so much young than him, and he had so many insecurities still when it came to relationships. When Wendy attempted to rekindle thing with them recently, it failed because of their past and his inability to let go of the pain she caused him.

"Ziva, Ducky, I don't think so. The Boss would head slap me so hard I'd week up in the past," said Tony.

"Anthony, don't make excuses. She is the one for you, isn't she?" asked Ducky.

"I… I'm not sure, Ducky," he answered.

"Then think about it," said Ducky.

"I will," he said.

After dinner, Ducky made tea and then began to review the files Tony brought, while Tony sat and listened to one of Ducky's jazz albums. The album was _Deep Velvet_ by jazz pianist George Shearing. Ducky read through he notes, studied the photos, and read lab results, while Tony enjoyed the music. Finally, Ducky cleared his throat and readied himself to speak.

"Janet Treanor was drugged with a sedative, Midazolam. Once unconscious, our killer stripped her, changed her clothes, and then strangled her with a red silk tie. Once dead she was transported to Foggy Bottom and the apartment," Ducky said.

"No real evidence was left behind?" asked Tony.

"No. He is methodical. He cleaned the body with alcohol once she was stripped and cleaned her again once moved," said Ducky.

"What else is our killer?" asked Tony.

"Obsessed with you," smiled Ducky. "You are as important to him as Valentino the serial killer he came to admire. You may be even more important since you brought Valentino down and in some ways gave him lasting fame. He wants to best you, beat you, make you hurt," said Ducky. "This one is clever, intelligent, and nasty."

"And he's all mine," smiled Tony.

"Not all yours, Anthony. I am a consultant on this case, aren't I?" asked Ducky.

"Yes, Ducky," said Tony.

"Next victim, I expect that you call me and get me permission to do the autopsy," Ducky insisted.

Tony smiled.

"Ducky, you are my secret weapon," he said.

"When do you think he kill again?" asked Tony.

"Soon. You see he wants to play this game out in the media. He wants to show the world how smart he is and he wants to embarrass you. Janet is the first victim, but he'll be interested in pushing the body count up," ducky explained.

"I can't imagine some kid in Baltimore sitting in his room following Valentino and cheering for him then reading about me and deciding someday that he was going to embarrass me," Tony said.

"He is no longer a kid, Anthony. He is a dangerous adult and if you push him the wrong way he'll want you dead," said Ducky.

Tony smiled. If he was good at one thing, he was good at pushing buttons.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Five

Officer Wayne drove Tony to Gibbs' house for their Thursday night dinner. He pulled the black Taurus in front of the house and waited for his orders.

"Listen, you can take off and get yourself something to eat. I'm safe here," Tony said.

"I'm supposed to stay near you, sir," said Wayne.

"He's my old boss and before that he was a marine sniper. He can protect me, Kevin. Go get dinner," Tony said.

"Yes, sir," Wayne said then waited for Tony to get out of the car.

He pulled away and drove off. Tony walked up to stairs of the front porch and opened the door. He heard voices.

"We were sure he was in the car we were following, Boss," McGee said.

"He somehow switched cars on us," added Ziva.

They were in Gibbs reporting a screw up. He could picture Gibbs silently making a mug of coffee and glaring at them with his grey blue eyes. Tony took the jacket of his Zegna three-piece suit off and draped it over the sofa then he unbuttoned the top collar of his light blue dress shirt and loosened the dark blue silk tie.

Gibbs exited the kitchen carrying two mugs of coffee with McGee and Ziva following him. He noticed the grate was setup over the fire in the fireplace, which was making the house a little warm for a summer evening. _Thank God for central air conditioning_. They were having steak cowboy style.

Both McGee and Ziva were surprised to see him standing there. Gibbs handed him one of the mugs. Tony sampled it, light and sweet. It was just as if he liked it.

"I'll put the steaks on once I handle them," Gibbs said.

"No problem, Boss," smiled Tony.

Gibbs turned and glared at them.

"You let our suspect shake you. No excuses. You better pick up his trail," he growled.

His smartphone quacked, a sign of an incoming text message. With one hand, Tony took his smartphone and checked.

_Sting on for Tonight. Anacostia Park. Washington. _

Tony texted back telling him he wanted to know how it went. They were using Detective Anna Hess as bait. He put his smartphone away then sat down on the sofa with his coffee. It was then he noticed that Ziva kept catching glimpses of him. _I wonder if she misses me. _

He smartphone rang this time. Putting the coffee on the coffee table, he pulled out his phone and stood up.

"DiNozzo," he said.

"_Sorry, Inspector, but a local news station news bunny got a call from Enigma. Heather Sloan is her name. She'll be glad to share the information with us, but she wants to interview Inspector Batman_," said Hawes.

"When?" he asked.

"_Sooner the better. She'd like to meet with you tonight_," said Hawes.

"Where?" Tony asked.

"_Dinner at Corduroy in an hour_," Hawes said.

"Okay, tell her yes," he said then hung.

Tony speed dialed Officer Wayne.

"_Yes, sir_," he answered chewing his food.

"Finish you food then pick me up," Tony told him then hung up.

He looked over at Gibbs.

"You have a driver," said Gibbs.

Tony nodded and McGee snorted. Gibbs reached over and head slapped McGee then looked over at Tony.

"Why do you have driver?" asked Gibbs.

"Our killer, Enigma, paid me a visit at home. Now I'm saddled with a car and driver," sighed Tony.

"Where are you off to?" asked Gibbs.

"Local news anchor got a message from Enigma. Now I have to play nice with her," said Tony.

"The power of the press," said Gibbs.

Tony smiled then his eyes drifted over to Ziva. Her eyes were filled now with concern. Just for a moment, he couldn't take his eyes off her.

"We miss you," she said.

Tony put his suit jacket back on and then he smiled.

"Probie," he said to McGee, "now that you are SFA, you make sure you take care of your team. It's an important part of your job."

"I will, Tony," replied McGee.

"Boss, talk to you later," said Tony then he exited to wait for Wayne to pick him up.

NCIS

The restaurant was upscale and trendy. Heather Sloan, who was brunette with a killer body, sat in a semi-circle booth. Tony was pointed her way by the maître d. She was having a pear 'tini. Tony slipped into the booth.

"Inspector DiNozzo," she smiled.

"Heather Sloan," replied Tony.

"Or Should I call you Inspector Batman?" she prodded him.

"That was an invention of a writer in Baltimore," Tony said.

"You were impressive back then," she said.

It was at that moment Tony looked at Heather Sloan and realized she was roughly the same age as Ziva, just passing into her thirties. Suddenly, he felt old, not ancient, but old. _Impressive back then, _thought Tony.

"I'll take that as a compliment and move on," said Tony.

"Enigma says you are the best. He intends to prove himself against you," said Sloan.

"Let me hear it," Tony said.

He took a small recorder out of her pocketbook and placed it on the tabletop. She pressed play.

"_I'm Enigma and I killed Janet Treanor and now I'm going to continue to kill until Inspector Anthony DiNozzo can stop me. He inspired me as a boy when he was known as Detective Batman. Batman needs an arch villain and I am his arch villain. He and I will make history in the city. People will write about us; people will remember us and you will report it," _it was the same light, haunting voice as before.

Tony sat and thought about what was said. _Making history means big numbers. He intends on killing and killing until I stop him. _

"I'll need that to have my people go through it looking for clues," he said.

She slid it over to him with a smile.

"Thank you," he said putting it in his jacket pocket.

"It looks like he has chosen you and me," she said.

"Yeah, lucky us," Tony mumbled.

"I expect access to you and your new MCU. You know he's going to be in touch with me again. I'm his reporter of choice," she said.

"I wouldn't be happy about that," Tony said. "This man is a killer. At some point he'll want to make you the damsel in distress."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," she said.

"Didn't you read comic books growing up," he said.

"No, did you?" she asked.

"No. My parents wouldn't let me. I had to wait until I was older to read them," he smiled.

"My station will hire bodyguards for me," she said sounding a little too confident for Tony's taste.

"Bodyguards won't stop him if he comes after you," Tony said.

"You will protect me," she smirked.

Tony's smartphone rang. He took his phone out and answered it.

"DiNozzo," he answered.

"Sir, It's Washington. Detective Hess has been injured," Washington said.

"And the suspect?" asked Tony.

"Muffat killed him," said Washington. "I believe DNA tests of his semen will prove he's out man."

"What happened to Hess?" asked Tony.

"Suspect stabbed her in the side. She's at Georgetown," said Washington.

"Where are you?" asked Tony.

"I'm handling the crime scene along with Muffat. I called the L.T. and told him, so he went off to Georgetown," said Washington.

"When you are done make you Muffat's gun is secured and IAD told and then get both your asses to Georgetown. I want to hear how you let your partner get stabbed. Understood?" growled Tony then he hung up.

Looking at a now curious Heather Sloan, Tony felt tension tighten his jaw. He needed to go. Standing up, he loosened his jaw and smiled at her.

"Business calls. If you hear from Enigma, let me know," he said. "I'll probably have a couple of Detectives visit your station tomorrow."

"I expect quid pro quo," she said.

"I expect Christmas everyday but it just doesn't seem happen," smiled Tony.

NCIS

Tony and Officer Wayne strode through the hallways of the hospital heading towards the ER waiting room. As they entered, they saw Hawes in jeans and a tee shirt with his badge and gun clipped to his jeans. He looked like he had nee interrupted during a barbecue.

"Inspector," he said when he saw Tony.

"Hawes. What do you know so far?" he asked.

"Damaged colon and knicked her kidney," he said.

"I want to make sure she gets a private room," Tony stated.

"I already talked to them about that," said Hawes.

A nurse came out and looked around until she settled her eyes on them.

"Lieutenant Detective Hawes," the nurse said. "Detective Hess is out of surgery."

"When will she be placed in her room?" Tony asked.

"After four or five hours in Post OP ICU, she'll be transferred," she said.

"Thank you, nurse," Tony said.

The nurse went back through the ER doors. Tony looked at Wayne.

"Go home," he said.

"No, sir. I'm your driver," he said.

"You just want overtime. Go on, Wayne," he said.

"I won't put this down on my time sheet, sir. I'm staying," he said.

Tony smiled and looked at Hawes.

"We have to get him a detective badge," he said to him.

Hawes smiled, "I agree."

NCIS

He left Washington and Muffat at the hospital to babysit their partner. According to their story, the suspect jumped out from behind a tree and dragged her into a tree dense part of the park. They immediately followed after her, but in struggling with the suspect, she was stabbed. Muffat unloaded two rounds in the man's chest. Case closed.

Before leaving the hospital, Tony called Amara and told him the serial rapist was more than likely now a closed case. DNA tests were being rushed. Amara was thrilled and told him Chief Ransom and the Mayor would be thrilled. He would be forwarding more cases his way.

Entering his apartment, the stifling heat of his place hit him. He turned on the overhead light then put his air conditioner full blast. He needed sleep. Ever since Enigma visited his apartment, he hadn't been able to sleep well. It wasn't so much that he was spooked by the bastard breaking in and trussing him up with duct tape, but that he knew the bastard was planning on killing people and that turned his stomach.

He took of his jacket, unbuttoned his vest, unbuttoned his top two buttons of his shirt, and then took off his tie. It had been a long day. He walked over to his minibar and poured himself a Glenlivet. No ice was needed just a nice pour. He took a sip and savored it for a moment. Someone knocked at his door. Tony walked over and opened it.

"Hi," it was his neighbor Jordon.

She was dressed in yoga pants and a tight white tee shirt.

"I was hoping you were home," she said.

"What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Well, I was hoping you have some one percent milk. I'm all out and I don't want to go to the store," she said.

"Sorry. I might have some half and half in but one percent milk," he smiled.

"No, that's too fatty," she said.

"Sorry," Tony said then started to close the door.

"You busy with something?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am. I have a detective in the hospital and all sorts of things I have to prepare for in the morning. I wish I could have helped you," he said.

She made a disappointed face, "Oh, well. Maybe we can get together sometime."

"Maybe," he smiled then shut the door.

Instead of Jordan, Tony found himself thinking of Ziva. He missed his ninja warrior. Ducky advice started to play in his head. He no longer had rules to play by, other than the ones he made for himself. Yet, he was sort afraid to think about her in a romantic way without boundaries. He'd played around the outskirts for so long that it became safe to pine for her because he was never going to have her.

Now, there was a chance and he felt hesitant. No, not hesitant. He was scared shitless. There was sparks between Ziva and him, but was there anything more than that he wasn't sure. Just look at the men she got involved with from Michael to Damon Worth to CI-Ray. He wasn't her type. None of them even knew the difference between _American Graffiti_ and Graffiti. There were freaking either Rambo or second rate James Bond. What was he but a smart-ass ex-jock who was more cop than superspy and had insecurities older than her. Yeah, she scared him. But then again Enigma would probably kill before he had a chance to see just how much she scared him. He took another sip of his scotch and sat down on his sofa.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Six

In the morning, Tony's first stop was the hospital to check on Hess. Gibbs had long ago instilled in him a sense of responsibility for one of yours injured or fallen in action. He entered her room to find Washington asleep in a chair in the corner of the room. This was what he wanted from them, that they treated each other like a team and team was family. As he stood by her bed, Hess slowly opened her yes.

"Morning," he said.

"Inspector," she replied softly, "we got the bastard."

Tony could tell she was proud that they had gotten the serial rapist. She was a good cop.

"Yes, you did, Detective," he smiled. "I see a medal coming your way."

"Thanks, sir, but all I did was get stabbed," she said.

"I need you to get better, Hess. Muffat doesn't look good in a dress as a decoy," he said.

She laughed. Tony reached over and squeezed her hand then he left the room. Officer Wayne drove him to MCU. Grabbing a coffee and a couple of donuts, he stopped at his administrative assistant's desk.

"Hey, Jenna, anything for me?" he asked.

"Yes, Inspector. Commander Amara said he sending a new case for you to start working on and Detective Malloy will be here in an hour to talk to you," she said.

"When he gets here send him right in to my office," said Tony.

"Sure, Boss," she said.

Tony entered his office then closed the door. He placed his coffee and donuts on his desk then sat down. Malloy had switched his meeting time. Tony was anticipated a gut wrenching meeting, that he was not looking forward to having. The man had a lot of pain to deal with because of his wife's murder and probably would be lashing out. But, this was part of his new job.

He began absentmindedly to eat his jelly donut. Bit, chew, bit chew, he didn't really pay attention to what he was doing. By the time he was paying attention to what he was doing, he had finished both donuts. It was then His assistant buzzed him.

"_Sir, I got Detective Malloy here_," she said over the intercom.

"Send him in," replied Tony.

The door opened and Detective Dennis Malloy entered. He was around five foot eleven with sandy hair and kind face that looked worn and tired. Tony waited for the man to explode at him and blame him for his wife's death. _If he wants to hit me, I won't defend myself or press charges. He looks like he needs someone to punch. _

"Can I sit?" asked Malloy.

"Please," said Tony, "I'm rude for not offering you a seat."

"Let me start by saying I don't blame you for Janet's death. I blamed the bastard who did it. I only wish Janet got to meet you again, Inspector DiNozzo. I don't know if you know this but we named our child after you. Her name is Antonia," he said.

Tony felt like he'd been gut punched. Janet did remember him and think fondly of him. _I'm going to kill Enigma myself when I get my hands on that fucker. _

"I'd like to meet her sometime," said Tony.

"Anytime. I kind of think of you as one of her uncles," he said. "I'm here because I want to help you find this creep."

"Detective Malloy, Dennis, you know you can't work on the case, not with your wife as a victim," said Tony.

"Not directly, but indirectly. I can do whatever you need me to do," said Malloy.

Tony exhaled. He understood the sentiment and he owed the man.

"How would you like to be part of MCU?" asked Tony.

"What? You want me to join this group?" asked Malloy. "I'm a good detective, but the guys who are part of this group have heft resumes."

"And I run the MCU," smiled Tony. "You want to be part of it?"

"Yes," he said.

"You can work on the other cases we are working on and it will allow you to keep eye on the Enigma case, but you won't be directly involved," said Tony.

"You'd do that for me?" said Malloy.

"You did name your daughter after me," he smiled. "It's time I start acting like an uncle."

NCIS

"Tell me something I don't know about this case," growled Gibbs.

The case was a dead Petty Officer, William George. He'd been stabbed on leave outside of a club. They had a knife with no fingerprints, no CCTV, and no motive.

"If Tony was here he'd say look to the girlfriend," said Ziva, as she stood in the bullpen looking at the photo of the dead Petty officer on the plasma screen.

"No girlfriend," said McGee.

"Maybe a boyfriend," said Ziva.

"Maybe it's a damned dog," growled Gibbs.

"Or maybe it's a gambling debt, Boss," said Tony.

Gibbs, Ziva, and McGee turned to see Tony with a big smile on his face. He was in a tan summer suit with a blue shirt and no tie. Behind him was a young man in a cheap suit, who looked nervous.

"DiNozzo," smiled Gibbs, "explain yourself."

"The club is known to have an illegal high stakes poker game happening in the backroom. Now if I'm not mistaken, and when it comes to things like this I seldom am mistaken," he said then walked over to the plasma, "the back of his hand has a blue stamp not a black one. The regular stamp is black. The blue stamp is for those who are there to gamble, AKA play the card game."

Tony turned to see Ziva was smiling at him. She wasn't upset at him for showing them up, but smiling. It took him by surprise.

"McGee, Ziva, DiNozzo has given you a clue, so go follow it up at the club," Gibbs said.

"Yes, Boss," McGee moaned.

"Alright, Gibbs," Ziva said then turned and looked at Tony. "We miss you."

I miss you, too," he said to her while staring into her brown chocolate eyes.

"Good, I'm glad," she smirked then followed an annoyed McGee to the elevator.

Tony looked at Gibbs and hunched his shoulders in confusion, "Is there something wrong with Ziva."

"Here for your stuff now, Tony," said Gibbs.

"Wayne, grab the box and take it down to the car. I be there in a minute," said Tony.

"Yes, sir," said Wayne.

He grabbed the box and headed off to the elevator leaving Tony in the bullpen alone with Gibbs.

"So?" said Gibbs.

"We have a new case. It seems there is a trio of well-trained and violent thieves who are hitting parties, cocktail parties, and dinner parties in Georgetown and Foggy Bottom. They take jewelry, cash, and credit cards then are off," he said.

"Sounds like fun. How about the reason you left?" asked Gibbs.

"We are looking but I'm waiting for the next shoe to drop," said Tony.

"Remember, this is about you with this creep. This psycho is trying to get to you," said Gibbs.

"I know," Tony replied.

"Nervous, DiNozzo?" said Gibbs.

"Yeah, Boss, I am," he said.

"You're not killing anyone; remember that, this Enigma is. Your job is to stop him not feel guilty about what he does," said Gibbs.

"How are McGee and Ziva doing?" asked Tony.

"They're fine. McGee is going through growing pains and Ziva," he said then paused, "misses you. You should call her sometime."

"You getting a probie?" Tony asked in order to change the subject.

"Yup," said Gibbs.

"Okay," sighed Tony. "I got to go."

"Yeah, you do. Get going. I'll see you Thursday unless I see you sooner," said Gibbs.

"Okay, Boss," said Tony.

"Keep your head on a swivel, DiNozzo," he said.

NCIS

Tony did not sleep soundly in his bed. So far being Inspector DiNozzo felt like playing a part, much like being Special Agent DiNozzo was playing a part. He had yet to find his sweet spot, that perfect mix of Tony the boss and Tony the man. Right now, he was feeling like a version of Leroy Jethro Gibbs light instead of Tony DiNozzo.

He needed to be more like himself, more outside of the box instead of the silver haired fox. Yet, the last few years he'd kind of lost who Tony DiNozzo was. A little too much guilt and too many bad choices had chipped away at his wall of confidence. It made him doubt himself too much and now was not a good time to be doubting himself.

"_The Summer wind comes blowing in and across the lane_," Frank Sinatra sang.

It was his smartphone's ringtone. Sleepily, Tony reached for it his smartphone on his night table grabbing it.

"Yeah," he said wearily.

"Sorry. I called Wayne and he's on the way to pick you up. We have Enigma's next victims," Hawes said.

"Victim's?" said Tony.

"Yeah, Boss, victims," he said.

Tony dressed in black jeans, jean shirt, and his black Armani blazer. Wayne picked him up twenty minutes after he got off the phone and drove him to the West End and New Hampshire Avenue where the bodies were located in a modern apartment building with plenty of CCTV. As Tony got to the apartment with the victims, he knew it was going to be bad by the expression of Hawes' face.

"In the bedroom, Boss," Hawes said.

Tony went into the bedroom where a naked man and women, woman on top, where joined together by a long iron spike driven through both their bodies. There was a typed letter from Enigma.

_Inspector Batman, _

_In death, they are joined together wherein life they were falling apart. Romantic, isn't it? _

_Enigma. _

"Tell me about them?" Tony said.

"His place. He's a trust fund baby. She's a local model, TV, and magazines. They were dating, but from what I've been told by a neighbor they were breaking up," said Hawes.

"CCTV?" asked Tony.

"None. It's all on computer and digitalized and someone hacked in and erased an hour from tonight," Hawes said. "The bastard is good."

"Get our computer forensic people to see if they can trace the hacker," Tony said, as he started to feel very tired. "Call Heather Sloan, she's going to get something from this asshole and I want it collected as evidence. If she balks or tries to hide behind being the press, then I want you to arrest her."

"I will," said Hawes. "Nasty piece of work. I've got the ME coming."

"He doesn't touch the body until my man is done," said Tony.

He walked to a quiet corner of the room and he took out his smartphone and dialed Ducky. Three rings and Ducky picked up.

"Hello," he said.

"Ducky, I need you," said Tony.

"Please send a car for me, Anthony," he said.

"The car is on the way," he said.

NCIS

Ducky arrived in his bow tie and fedora and suddenly Tony felt more comfortable. He looked like he always did at a crime scene, which was a man engrossed in a problem. This was a man he trusted, a man he had counted on for years and had never let him down. He watched as the geriatric walked around the body and instructed a crime scene person to take pictures. The city ME knew Ducky's reputation and didn't have a problem letting him examine the scene. He didn't even have a problem with letting him help with the autopsy.

"Young man, take a picture of this right here," he pointed with a rubber gloved hand to a spot on his neck.

"And here," he said as he then pointed to a spot on her neck.

"What have you got there, Ducky?" asked Tony.

"Needle marks," said Ducky.

"They were drugged," said Tony.

"More than likely, Anthony," said Ducky.

"That makes three victims and his MO is changing," said Hawes.

"Yeah, I think we'll find his MO is simple. He is an attention whore," said Tony.

"And he likes you," smiled Hawes.

"Yeah, he has a jones for me, which shows two things," said Tony.

"Yeah, he's nuts," said Hawes.

"And he has impeccable taste," said Tony.

"Very funny," said Hawes.

"Get Holloway and Moore to ride the evidence and ME threw the system," said Tony. "We are working this case through the weekend."

"Yes, sir," sighed Hawes.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Seven

Detectives Moore, Holloway, Malloy, and Justiz were tasked by Hawes to work on the cocktail party thieves as they started to be called. This was their Saturday afternoon assignment. Everyone else was working on Enigma. Tony sat in his office drinking coffee while waiting to hear from Ducky.

Hawes walked into Tony's office and sat down without a word. He waited for Tony to look up from his paperwork.

"Malloy, that's an interesting choice," he said.

"He's a good detective," said Tony.

"Not arguing that. I'm just making an observation," said Hawes.

"Yeah, sure you are," smiled Tony. "Heather Sloan?"

"She received a voicemail from Enigma. He took credit for the death of our couple, including remarking how he joined them together in death then he went off praising Inspector Batman," he said. "It's like he's read your jacket from Peoria, Philly, Baltimore, and NCIS."

"How so?" asked Tony.

"Mentioned Somalia and something about you shooting two guys then diving into the Potomac to rescue a young woman and fellow agent," he explained.

"He's getting into my personnel jacket. Is that online?" he asked.

"I'll find out," Hawes said.

"Try contacting a Tim McGee or Abby Scuito at NCIS. If they need to know then mention me," said Tony.

"Sure, Boss," said Hawes as he stood up.

Tony watched as Hawed left then he picked up his phone and made a call to FBI Special Agent Tobias Fornell at home.

"_Fornell_," he answered.

"Special Agent Fornell, can I interest you in a free lunch?" asked Tony.

"_Why not, DiNutso_?" said Fornell. "_I don't have my daughter this weekend_."

"Would today be okay?" he asked.

"Tell me where and when," said Fornell.

NCIS

Tony chose the diner. Wayne drove him then took a seat at the counter while Tony sat a booth and waited for Fornell. It didn't take long for Fornell to show up. As always the glum faced FBI agent seemed amused by DiNozzo. He sat down.

"DiNutso, if I knew you wanted to leave NCIS, I would have offered you a job," he said.

"He and Slacks working together, I don't think so," Tony said.

"An Inspector at Metro makes more than an FBI agent I think," Fornell said.

"Fornell, if you wanted to find out about my background in the law and you didn't want to go about the usual roots, how would you do it?" asked Tony.

The waitress brought two menus, placed then down on the table and left. Fornell picked one of them up and reviewed the menu.

"Enigma knows too much about you?" asked Fornell. "That has to be getting under your skin."

"Yeah," he said.

"Most information is obtainable off the internet if you want to take the time, or you could find it out if you knew someone who works for DCI which is a data company that is putting federal files onto computers, files like personnel files," said Fornell.

Tony smiled, "You just earned yourself a cheeseburger and waffle fries."

"This Enigma is a nasty piece of work. Do you need the FBI help?" Fornell asked.

"He doesn't want to go up against the FBI, Fornell. He wants to go up against me. Enigma has made this personal," said Tony.

"Which is a good reason to get us involved," said Fornell.

"He's not fooling around, Fornell, and he smart and seems to be getting inside information," said Tony.

"Okay, you know where I am if you need help. I'll even leave Sacks at home if you call," said Fornell.

"Nice offer," said Tony.

"I knew you'd like it," smiled Fornell. "Gibbs must miss you."

"That something you'd have to talk to Gibbs about not me," smiled Tony.

"I'd never thought you'd leave his team or him," said Fornell.

"Only left the team, Fornell," Tony said. "Gibbs is still my Boss in many ways."

Fornell chuckled, "Well, I'll do what I can do to help you."

NCIS

"What do we have here, Ducky?" asked Tony.

They were in his office enjoying a glass of MaCallan's Scotch. Ducky took a sip of his drink and nodded.

"A sedative was used. Both victims were unconscious, but alive, when they were skewered," he said.

"Pike through them was enough to kill them?" asked Tony.

"Yes, Anthony. Their spines and a few major organs were pierced," said Ducky. "Our murdered knew what he was doing."

"Where did the weapon come from?" asked Tony.

"It was part of a modern sculpture from the living room," said Ducky.

"So he could have just as easily used some other weapon if he needed to," sighed Tony. "He's not tied to a weapon or a method of killing."

"No, he's just tied to playing his game with you," said Ducky, who then took a sip of his drink.

There was a knock on the office door.

"Enter," Tony said.

Hawes entered. He had a smile on his face.

"DCI turned out to be good lead. I have an Annette Jean in the interview room," he said. "She had accessed your information. She works there as a programmer."

Tony grinned. It appeared that they finally had a real clue. He looked at Ducky.

"Do you want to watch the interview?" he asked him.

"I'd love to, Anthony," replied Ducky.

Tony and Hawes entered the interview room. The room had a just painted smell to it. _I should have told them to choose a better color then metallic grey. _Annette Jean was handcuffed to the table. She was a brunette, attractive, though not beautiful. Her light brown eyes seemed to show intelligence, though there was something about her which immediately made Tony give her some room. He and Hawes sat down across from her.

"Annette, if you wanted to know about me then all you had to do was ask," smiled Tony.

"Now I am become death," she said with a smile.

"Ohh, I see you are quoting Robert Oppenheimer," he said. "Come on, Annette, don't quote people to me but talk to me."

"Inspector Batman, Enigma has a message for you," she said.

"What is his message, Annette?" asked Tony.

"To win you have to be strong enough to die," she said then she bit into something, foam began to froth from her mouth and he body started to convulse.

"Jesus, get a Ducky in here," yelled Tony as he ran around the table to check her.

By the time Ducky entered the room Annette was dead. He checked here vitals to make sure.

"A Cyanide pill kept under a false tooth," Ducky said.

"Damn it," growled Tony.

"Jesus, this bastard can get people to kill themselves for him. I don't like this," said Hawes.

"Go through her life with a fine tooth comb," snapped Tony. "Someone has had to see her with Enigma."

"I'll get started on it with Washington," said Hawes.

"Call the coroner's to pick up our suspect," said Tony as he stood over the body.

"You couldn't have stopped her, Anthony," said Ducky.

"I know, Ducky," he said softly.

"She wanted to die in order to full some sort of fantasy she had bought into," said Ducky.

"He knows me too well, Ducky, too fucking well," Tony said then he growled like an animal. "I bet the bastard has my apartment bugged somehow."

Tony stormed out of the interview room walking up to Justiz' desk.

"You're a techy, a tech head, aren't you?" he asked him.

"I like technology," said Justiz.

"Good. We are going to search my apartment for bugs," he said.

"We'll need help," said Justiz.

"Grab who or whatever you need," ordered Tony.

NCIS

Ziva was preparing to meet Abby and McGee for a few drinks at a Georgetown Pub. Tony had solved their case for them, which led to Gibbs chewing them out for not knowing what Tony knew. Of course, McGee as the new SFA had taken the most abuse by Gibbs and needed to let off some steam. Since it was a warm summer night, Ziva wore a summer dress and let her hair down. As she spritz herself with perfume, the doorbell rang. Ziva went to answer the door.

She opened it to see Damon Worth standing there.

"Damon, this is a surprise," she said.

"Yeah, well, I was in town, so I thought I'd drop by," he said.

He walked in and gave her a strong hug. She tentatively returned the hug.

"Why are you in town?" Ziva asked him.

"Business," he smiled.

She knew that he worked as a mercenary now, so she didn't push.

"Well, I'm meeting friends for drinks," she said.

"Can I come?" he asked.

"Okay," Ziva nodded her head and started to wonder why she just wasn't happy to see him.

The pub was crowded but not too much since it was only six in the evening. Abby was able to secure them a booth. McGee was nursing a beer, while Abby had a vodka and cranberry and Ziva and Damon had scotch. In the middle of the table were chicken wings and stuffed potatoes skins.

"I just can't make Gibbs happy," said McGee.

"You're new as his senior field agent, Timmy. The bossman will get used to you," Abby said.

"I can't believe DiNozzo left. He didn't seem ambitious," said Damon.

Abby furrowed her brow and glared at Damon, "You don't know Tony."

"No, but I just thought he was coasting," he said.

"I thought so, too, until I started to do his job," sighed McGee.

"And Tony managed to take the brunt of Gibbs' moods," added Ziva.

"Yeah, I miss that," said McGee.

"There he is," said Damon.

"Who?" asked Ziva.

"DiNozzo. His picture is on the TV," said Damon.

On the TV above, the bar was a photo of Tony. The photo was from Tony's time at NCIS. Abby and Ziva got up and went to the bar.

"Hey, could you make the TV louder, please, pretty please?" asked Abby sweetly.

The bartender upped the volume of the TV.

"_Heather Sloan has this exclusive story_," the anchor said.

The attractive Heather Sloan appeared on the TV screen.

"_Three people are dead so far, a sign that DC has a serial killer. But this isn't an ordinary serial killer, as this one has named himself and his rival. He calls himself Enigma and he has chosen newly hired Inspector Anthony DiNozzo of the new Major Crimes Unit as his rival. Enigma calls Inspector DiNozzo Inspector Batman. This is a reference to a thirteen-year-old serial killer case in Baltimore that then Homicide Detective DiNozzo solved and killed the serial killer, Maurice Tomlinson. Back then a local writer nicknamed DiNozzo Detective Batman and it now seems Enigma wants to engage Batman," _Heather Sloan said.

"You can lower the sound," said Ziva then she turned to Abby. "Stupid bitch has given the serial killer all the attention he wanted and put a target on Tony's back."

"I'm nervous for him, Ziva. Tony doesn't have us protecting him," said Abby.

"I know, Abby. I'm afraid for him, too. I don't want to see Tony hurt," she said.

The two women made their way back to their table. They sat down.

"Enigma. Stupid name for a serial killer," said Damon Worth.

Ziva glared at him. She was starting to wonder what she saw in him beyond the muscles.

"The first victim was strangled and the next two were spiked to together with some sort of pike," said McGee, who was looking for information about the murders on his smartphone.

"I don't get the name," said Damon.

"Well, if he is identifying Tony as Batman then one of Batman's arch villains was Ed Nygma, or E Nygma, otherwise known as the Riddler," said McGee.

"Do you think that Tony knows that, Timmy?" asked Abby.

"Probably not. Tony's parents didn't allow him to read comic books because they were too common," said McGee.

"You should tell Tony this information, McGee. It might help him," said Ziva.

"Maybe I'll e-mail him this weekend," said McGee.

"Batman and Riddler. This all sounds like kids playing around to me," said Damon.

"People dying is not kids playing around, Damon," hissed Ziva.

"Especially one that wants to hurt Tony," growled Abby.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to insult," said Damon. "Help me out here, McGee."

"Can't help you out, Damon. Tony always hand my six," said McGee.

NCIS

"Two listening devices and one camera," said Justiz.

"Goddamn it," Tony yelled. "I should have known this bastard had done something like this."

Tony looked like he was about to have a fit and break up the apartment but he calmed himself.

"Can you trace the devices to an origin point?" asked Tony.

"Yeah, sure, but he probably can be traced back to an apartment that's been abandoned by now," said Justiz.

"Find the apartment. Call in whoever you need but find it and go over that apartment and find some trace evidence," growled Tony.

He stormed out of his apartment and into the night's air. It was warm out and all he wanted to do was get away from the damned case for now. Officer Wayne followed him.

"Sir," Wayne called to him as Tony walked down the street.

Tony stopped walking and looked at Wayne. The man kept following him like a puppy following its new owner.

"Yeah, Wayne," he said.

"Not letting you out of my sight, sir," said Wayne.

"You really want a gold badge badly, don't you?" smiled Tony.

Wayne blushed.

"Come on, Wayne, it looks like you are my drinking buddy, officer," said Tony.

"Whatever you need, sir," said Wayne.

"Well, I need a drink," Tony said.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Eight

"We have a cocktail party in a brownstone being thrown on Saturday evening by Literary Agent Michael Hynes for his client Anna Channing. It's to celebrate her first novel, which is a thinly disguised piece of fiction about her affair with the CIA Director," explained Detective Malloy.

"What do you intend on doing?" asked Tony.

"Washington, Muffat, and I will be disguised as valets and waiters and the ever attractive Detective Moore will be a guest," said Malloy. "Anna needs a plus one."

"That'll be me," said Tony.

"You sure, Boss?" asked Malloy.

"Positive," nodded Tony. "Now where are we with tracking down any clues about Enigma through Annette Jean's life?"

"We are getting nowhere," said Hawes. "So far she lived a clean life. The best thing we have is that her best friend said she started become distant about a year ago. She asked her if she had a boyfriend but she never got a good answer."

"And if she did get a boyfriend he kept himself clear of her friends, families, CCTVs, neighbors, and small pets," growled Tony. "Jesus, maybe Enigma is Claude Raines in _The Invisible Man_."

"Whoever he is, Boss, he's been planning this for years," said Hawes.

"Yeah, I agree," Tony said then he smiled. "And he seems to have an unlimited budget. We know he is more than likely from Baltimore, was a kid when I caught Valentino, and, and this is my opinion and not the experts, comes from a wealthy or well off family. And I bet he doesn't get along with his father and his mother died when he was very young."

"Why do you say that, Boss?" asked Detective Moore.

"Because that's your profile," answered Malloy.

Tony looked at him.

"After you saved her life, Janet wanted to know more about you. You think this Enigma has latched onto you because he's sort of a doppelganger," said Malloy.

"Okay, big word alert. Somebody want to explain what we are talking about," said Hawes.

"Enigma identified with me but wished to be Valentino. He read the articles on me and started to see how he and I had similarities. I came from a wealthy family from Long Island, New York. My mother died when I was eight. My father and I didn't get along with my father. Of course, there are differences probably. I was disinherited by my father when I was eleven and sent away to a military academy until I went to college on a sports scholarship. Meanwhile my father pissed away several fortunes," explained Tony. "Enigma still has money."

"Okay, I want to know something," said Washington, "what college?"

Tony smiled, "The Ohio State University."

"Shit, no. You were a point guard. You took them to a final four that was located in Baltimore. You also played quarterback, right?" said Washington.

"Yeah. I blew out my knee senior year in the game against Michigan. It destroyed any chance of going pro," smiled Tony. "How do you know this shit?"

"My father was a big college sports fan. I have to say that he loved you, thought you were going to make a great pro guard. You were fast for a white guy, could pass, and had a sweet jump shot," Washington said.

"I still have that jump shot," smiled Tony.

"Excellent. You still play?" asked Washington.

"Occasional," answered Tony.

Washington turned to Muffat, "We have to get him on the court."

"Alright, let's make this clear," growled Hawes, "it's the Inspector and I against you two. Loser buys beers."

"Sounds good," said Washington.

"We get to watch," added Justiz.

"I'll even bring Antonia to watch," Malloy said.

It wasn't NCIS, but Tony realized he was started to feel at home with his MCU. Now if only he could find and bury Enigma.

NCIS

Enigma was giving them time to come up with nothing on the Annette Jean lead. Tony knew he must find it amusing that Inspector Batman wasn't getting any closer to finding him. He now had Hawes to start looking into wealthy families in Baltimore where a son had a history of trouble during the time of Valentino. It was a shot in the dark but shots in the dark sometimes hit their target.

Tony readied himself for the cocktail party by putting on a light grey Hugo Boss Summer suit with a lavender shirt with a darker lavender tie. He chose a shoulder holster instead of his hip holster because he didn't want to take the chance of flashing. Once he was ready, he called Officer Wayne for a pickup.

The cocktail was in brownstone, one of those that sold in the five to ten million dollar range. Tony entered with Detective Moore, who was wearing a white dress, the cocktail party. As they entered, he noticed that there were two black vans parked on the street. _Don't tell me some other law enforcement agency is staking this one out, too. _

With charm and humor, he began to mingle until he saw a thing of ravishing beauty in a blue dress with Ichabod Crane in a suit. He had Moore continue to observe and mingle, while he walked up to Ziva and McGee.

"I hope you two have a good reason for being here," he said.

Ziva saw that it was Tony and could repress a smile.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Thieves have been hitting these high-end parties," he said.

"That's why we are here," said McGee. "We think they are ex-marines."

"So, Gibbs and, what, your new probie are in the van?" Tony asked.

McGee flinched as if someone was yelling in his earpiece. Taking the earpiece out, he handed it to Tony. Tony took his earpiece out and put the NCIS one in his ear.

"_DiNozzo, how many men you have there tonight_?" asked Gibbs.

"Five including myself," he said to McGee then McGee spoke surreptitiously into his sleeve.

"_Then we have enough bodies. Stay sharp. You are in charge in there. Give the ear wig back to McGee_," said Gibbs.

Tony handed McGee the earpiece then looked into Ziva's dark brown eyes. Placing his earpiece back in his ear, he couldn't take his eyes off Ziva. He loved seeing her.

"I've really missed you, my ninja," said Tony.

"Do you like your new job?" she asked.

"It's not my old job, but I just need to catch this Enigma, Ziva," he said.

"You will, Tony. You are good at what you do. I have faith in you," she said.

"Thanks," he said.

He wanted to say more but there was a time and place for everything and this was just bad timing.

"_Boss, we have three men coming in the back with food trays. They don't look like delivery men," _Washington said in his ear.

"Get ready. If they make a move, you move. I wanted them taken down hard. No collateral damage," he said.

Tony started searching the room for a fourth man. Even though the MO said there were three men, he had the feeling that there was a fourth. The fourth man would be the brains of the operation.

"Zi, McGee, I think it's about to go down, so you better get ready," said Tony.

"Really?" said McGee.

Gunfire broke out from the kitchen. Tony quickly searched the crowd looking for the fourth man. He spotted him. The guy had military bearing and eyes that observed everything. He noticed Tony noticing him and went for his sidearm, which was tucked in the small of his back. Tony reached for his Glock and came up firing. The guy got one shot off to Tony's two and Ziva's three, as she stood right beside him.

Washington came running out of the back with his badge raised. He looked at Tony.

"We got them, Boss," he smiled.

"Good job," said Tony.

As the uniformed police and ME took away the hurt and the dead, Gibbs stood by the van talking to Gibbs.

"Great way to spend a Saturday night, Boss," he said.

"They were all ex recon marines," growled Gibbs.

"I know you hate when marines go bad, but it happens," said Tony.

"You serve your country honorably then come home and dishonorably serve it, it sickens me," said Gibbs.

"Not everyone can be like you, Boss. You're a good man. There aren't that many men who are as good as you, Gibbs," smiled Tony.

"I can think of one, DiNozzo," Gibbs looked at his surrogate son in his eyes.

Muffat, Washington, Malloy, and Moore walked over to where Gibbs and Tony were talking. He looked over at his people then noticed Ziva, McGee and someone new, his replacement. He was ruggedly handsome and looked like he was a marine. _Just Ziva kind of guy, a stud and action man. Oh, well. _

"That's Agent Gil Kane, he's our new probationary agent," said Gibbs. "Kane, this is Inspector DiNozzo."

"Agent Kane," Tony offered the man his hand to shake.

He had a strong grip but Tony didn't care if he broke every bone in his hand he was flinching.

"I've heard about you," he said.

"All good I hope," smiled Tony.

"Sure," said Kane.

Tony ignored the sarcasm from Kane. He looked over to his people, "Good job. Malloy, go home. Don't forget to bring Antonia to the game tomorrow. I want to meet my niece. I have a gift for her."

"What did you get her?" he asked.

"A Disney princess doll," Tony said.

"Oh, yeah, she is going to love you," smiled Malloy.

"All of you get home. See you tomorrow at the Y," Tony said.

He people smiled and waved then moved off. Tony watched them go.

"Antonia?" asked Gibbs.

"That's Janet Treanor's husband. He works for me now," said Tony.

"And his daughter?" asked Gibbs.

Tony looked down at the ground, "she was named for me."

"I thought as much," sighed Gibbs.

"What are you doing tomorrow at the Y?" asked Ziva.

"Detective Washington and Muffat against me and Detective Hawes in a game of two on two basketball. Washington remembered the final four team I was the point guard for. He wants to play me," said Tony.

"He's ten or more years younger than you, Tony," McGee said.

"My money's on Dinozzo," said Gibbs.

"I would like to see this two on two," said Ziva.

"Tomorrow at ten in the morning at the Y 16th Street NW. No one would be upset if you showed up to watch. And can even come with us for lunch afterwards," smiled Tony.

"Can Abby, Jimmy, and Bree come, too?" asked McGee.

"Sure, McPadawan," smirked Tony. "I should get going and check that this crime scene is handled and all ruffled feathers are unruffled."

"You missed dinner this Thursday," said Gibbs.

"Sorry, Boss. I was a little obsessed this week with Enigma. He's getting under my skin," said Tony.

"You bring the beer and dessert next week," said Gibbs.

"Yes, Boss," nodded Tony.

He walked away from his old team. It felt good rubbing elbow with them again. Now, he had to work his ass off at the T tomorrow because he'd be damned if he was embarrassed in front of Ziva.

NCIS

Abby, McGee, Ziva, Jimmy, and Bree sat in the stands with all the members of the MCU, including Det. Hess, who had been released from the hospital, and Tony's admin assistant Jenna Yost. Ziva noticed that Detective Malloy's four years old daughter was holding a new princess doll. This made her smile. They watched and cheered as Tony and Hawes played a two on two game of basketball against Washington and Muffat. Although Muffat and Washington were younger and clearly in better shape the best player on the court was Tony.

Instead of shorts, Tony wore a pair of grey sweatpants along with an OSU tee shirt. They had agreed on a half-court game with the winner being the first team to reach 20. So far, the score was 14 to 10 in favor of Tony and Hawes, who had the ball. It had gotten to the point that Tony was abusing Muffat, so Washington left Hawes alone to double team Tony leading to a no look pass to Hawes for a layup.

"16 to 10," smiled Tony.

The sweat was running down his face and his heart was pumping and his lings burning. Even though this game was reminding him that he had let himself get out of shape, he was enjoying it immensely. This was basketball and he was always able to show off playing basketball.

Muffat and Washington switched off and Washington now guarded Tony. He tossed Tony the ball. Tony started dribbling the ball forward, stopped, stepped back, and nailed what would have been a three pointer if they were allowing three pointers in the game.

"18 to 10," he said.

Muffat tossed the ball to Washington, who tossed it to Tony. Tony knew he didn't have too much left in the tank, so he decided he drive to the hoop and see if he could end the game. Driving with his right hand, he let Washington push him away from the basket, which opened up the middle. When he knew Muffat was committed to staying with Hawes, he dribbled between his legs, then did a crossover move and left Washington in his tracks, as he went down the middle of the lane for a layup.

"20 and game," yelled Hawes.

Everyone was cheering. Tony could feel his right knee throbbing from the crossover move. The pain made him nauseous for a moment but he suppressed it. It was worth it to have felt like a player again.

"Jesus, Boss, you were the real deal," said Washington.

"Damn it, you could have been a pro," said Muffat.

In the stands, McGee took his wallet out and handed Jimmy a twenty dollar bill, which made Ziva, Abby, and Bree laugh.

"Okay, we win. Muffat and Washington are buying lunch," yelled Hawes.

Tony remained under the basket bent over with his hands on his thighs. The sweat dripped off him and the pain in his knee was slowly subsiding.

"We have to shower," said Hawes, "then we meet at Murphy's."

Murphy's was a cop bar in Tony's neighborhood. The owner was a former Metro cop. It was the kind of place where the drinks were reasonable and the food was plenty and tasted damned good. They were able to wrestle up several tables and pushed them together then ordered a couple of pitchers of beer and food. Ziva had managed to next to Antonia, who sat next to Tony and across from her father. She nursed a coke, as did her father.

"You like the doll?" Tony asked her.

Instead of talking, she nodded yes.

"Her name is Jasmine, Princess Jasmine," he said. "Have you ever seen the movie?"

She nodded no.

"Really," he said then he reached into his gym bag next to him and pulled out a Blu-Ray copy of _Aladdin_. He handed it to her.

"Thank you, Uncle Tony," she said quietly.

Tony leaned down and kissed the top of her head then he looked over at Malloy.

"I haven't seen her this happy in a while," he smiled.

"Well, Uncle Tony is going to after make sure she has all of Disney's princesses and the movies to go along with them, right, Princess?" he said to her.

"Yup," she said with a smile.

"Usually Feds and cops don't get along well," said Hawes, as he lifted a glass of beer. "You NCIS guys aren't too bad."

"Thank you," said Ziva, who sipped her beer.

"So what was it like to work for the Boss?" Holloway asked McGee.

"All he ever did was tease me and make up nicknames for me," said McGee.

"Really," said Moore, "he doesn't joke with us."

"He's our boss," Hawes said.

"Gibbs always said he was the best agent he's ever worked with," added Abby proudly.

"Who's Gibbs?" asked Justiz.

"Our boss," answered McGee.

Tony found himself listening more than talk and looking over at Ziva more than paying attention to the others. What made it all the more enjoyable was that Ziva kept looking back at him.

"You know, Zi, I really do miss you a lot," he said.

"Prove it, Tony," she smiled. "Ask me out on a date."

"Really? A real date," he said.

"Uncle Tony, you should treat her like a princess, too," said Antonia.

"You're right, Antonia, I should," he said then looked at Ziva. "Next, Saturday, may I pick the princess up at seven in the evening?"

"Yes, you may," Ziva answered.

From the bar unnoticed, Tony's neighbor Jordan watched him and the MCU personnel and NCIS people.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Nine

It was a frustrating week. They were thrown two more cases by Commander Amara; one was a blackmail case and the other threats on a public figure. But, it was Enigma causing all of Tony's frustration. The new cases could be dealt with, but Enigma eluded him. The Annette Jean lead came up with nothing on the identity of Enigma. Tony was sure he knew who he was looking for, grew up rich, hated his father, hid behind either charm or intelligence, and wanted to be underestimated by people, so that he could hid who he truly was.

Yeah, Enigma was his doppelganger in many ways, which made this all the more frustrating for Tony. Tony was sure that they shared some similarities, which was why he was stuck in Tony's head. Yet, they were different on a primal, basic level. Enigma had chosen to do evil, while Tony had chosen to help people in his life, to try to do some good. They both had the same chances but they had chosen differently.

So far, the only good thing about this week that made this week any good was his coming date with Ziva. He still couldn't believe that she had said yes to him. No matter awful the week went he still had the weekend to look forward to and that made it worthwhile. There was a knock at his door.

"Come in," he said.

Officer Wayne came into the office. He looked like he was trying to suppress a smile.

"How can I help you, Kevin?" Tony asked using his first name.

"I heard from my chief and he said I have been permanently transferred to your command," he said.

"Excellent," Tony said. "Commander Amara came through for me. You belong to me for as long as I say. Now I expect you to take the detective's exam when it comes up, Kevin."

"I intend to, sir," said Wayne.

"I also expect you to continue to act as my driver and bodyguard, but I want you to think of yourself as more than that. You are part of MCU," said Tony.

"Thanks, Boss," he said.

"My pleasure, Wayne," smiled Tony. "I just thought about it, since you are my drive does that make you Kato and I'm the Green Hornet?"

"I do have a black belt in Hapkido," said Wayne.

"And I look really good in a suit," chuckled Tony. "Welcome to the MCU, Kevin."

"Thanks, Boss," said Wayne, then he turned and left the office.

NCIS

He had planned Saturday out in his head several times during the week. For dinner, he was taking her a Middle Restaurant followed by a jazz club in the U Street Corridor. Since it was a nice warm summer evening, he chose his Brioni tan linen suit with a blue dress shirt and no tie. Since he was now Inspector DiNozzo and not Special Agent DiNozzo, he was always on call, so he clipped his Glock to his belt and made sure he had his gold badge and ID.

He arrived at Ziva's at five to seven carrying a single red rose. His instincts were to buy a dozen, but he didn't want to overdo it and come off as too much of the player. Ziva knew his background all too well. After parking his Camaro, he rang her buzzer. Ziva buzzed him into the apartment building. Tony walked up the stairs to the second floor.

"Is that rose for me?" asked Ziva as she stood in the door.

She wore an off-white summer dress what came to her knees. Tony took a moment to drink her in.

"You're beautiful," he said then handed her the rose. She smelled it then smiled.

"And you are a flatterer," she said. "I'm not sure I should trust what you say."

"Me telling you that you are beautiful is not flattery; it's the truth," he replied.

"You are good," she teased him.

Ziva grabbed her purse and then locked her door.

"I know you have at least two weapons on you," he said.

"Maybe I will let you body search me later to find them," she smiled.

"Come I have a reservation for us somewhere I think you'll like," he said.

Mama Ayesha's was located on Clavert Street NW. Ziva and Tony were seated at a table then a waiter arrived with menus. Tony ordered a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from St. Supery, Napa Valley, California then they ordered their meal from appetizer to dessert.

"I'll have the Khyar bil Laban," Ziva said excitedly.

"What's that?" asked Tony.

"Cucumber salad. It has cucumbers, yogurt, mint and some garlic. I haven't had this in years," she smiled.

"I'll have that, also," he said.

"And for dinner?" asked the waiter.

"I'll have the Shish Taouk," Ziva said then looked at Tony. "Shish Kabob with chicken instead of beef."

"Okay, well then I'll have the Shish Kabob," he smiled then looked down at the menu.

He remembered Ziva once mention how much she missed Middle Eastern desserts. This was an evening for her and he wanted it to be perfect.

"We'll have the Baklawa for dessert and two glasses of the 20 year old Tawny Port and two Arabian coffees," he said.

"Excellent," said the waiter then left.

"I am impressed," she said. "I thought you'd take me for Italian food."

"I know you miss a taste of home, so I thought you'd enjoy this," he said.

"This is wonderful," Ziva said. "I have always meant to try this place."

"Now you have," said Tony.

After they enjoyed their appetizer and had drunk half the bottle of wine with their dinner, Ziva started to move their conversation away from work and small talk.

"Why did you invite me to dinner now?" she asked.

"No more rules," he said, "so I thought it was a good time."

"That is not a real answer, is it, Tony?" she said. "The rules never stopped you from dating EJ. You flaunted your relationship with her."

He always knew that bothered her, not that he blamed her. EJ was a fling with the familiar, with someone he could understand, but also someone who had taken a job that he had been offered. In dating her, he was dating what could have been.

"EJ wasn't you that's why I dated her. In having a relationship with her, I was playing with being serious but I wasn't being serious. She wasn't you. Dating her tweaked the boss a little, which I think he needs sometime, and it was my way of saying to you that I could have someone in my life, also, just like you had someone," he admitted.

"Because of Ray," she said. "You dated her because of Ray."

"Yeah, because of Ray. He told me that you thought of me as a brother and that really bothered me. I didn't want it to show that it bothered me, but it bothered me," he said.

"You don't think we are like siblings," Ziva said with a smirk. "You don't think of me as a sister."

"I think of Abby as a sister. You know how I feel about you," Tony said.

"You thought of my as your partner," she teased him. "We were partners and teammates."

"Okay, you want to play that game," he said as he forked a piece of meat into his mouth. "What I said to you in Somalia under the influence of truth serum was the truth. You can deny it if you want but it was true."

Ziva smiled, "You can't live without me?"

"No, Zi, I can't live without you. I always wanted you happy, though, and after Michael and Somalia, I didn't think I could be the one. I came with too many bad memories and too much baggage," he said. "It wasn't until recently that I started to believe you and I could get past the memories and baggage."

"Then I ask why did you wait so long to ask me out?" she said.

"Because our timing sucked and I know how Gibbs feels about you," he said.

Ziva furrowed her brow and looked at Tony.

"He thinks of you as a daughter, just like he thinks of Abby," he said.

"But he thinks of you as a son," she said. "When I did the dossiers on you and Gibbs before I joined the team, we knew he treated you like a son."

"Daddy doesn't want sonny to date his sister," smiled Tony. "That's why Gibbs tried to set me up again with Wendy."

"You think Gibbs set that up," she said.

"Oh, yeah, he did. He knew how that tore me up her leaving me basically at the altar. I became a rampant womanizer and she married someone else," Tony told her. "He knew that I still carried a torch for her, so he gave me a chance to reignite a relationship with her or finally put it behind me. I put it behind me."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because someone had replaced her in my heart," he said.

Ziva felt her cheeks burn from blushing. She took a sip of wine.

"What do you have planned after this?" she asked.

"Ahh, you'll just have to wait. Don't worry I think you'll enjoy it," he said.

"I bet I will," she replied.

After dessert, port, and coffee, Tony drove her to their next destination. The jazz club he chose was intimate. They sat at a small table for two and Tony ordered Ziva another glass of Sauvignon Blanc while he had a scotch. They listened to a trio with a really talented pianist.

"What do expect from this date?" Ziva asked him.

"Another one," Tony smiled.

"Good answer," she smiled.

"I hope you've been enjoying yourself so far this evening," Tony said.

Ziva gave him one of her Mona Lisa smiles.

"It has been okay," she teased him.

"Well, that's better than bad," he chuckled.

Tony smartphone rang. He sighed then reached into his pocket and answered it.

"DiNozzo," he said.

"_Hey, Boss, I just got a call from Heather Sloan. She was delivered a finger and a note from Enigma. I thought you'd want to know_," Hawes said.

"Yeah, of course, I'd want to know. Where is she?" he asked.

"_I convinced her to sit tight at the channel six. She's waiting for us_," said Hawes.

"I'll see you there," Tony said.

Tony hung up and looked at Ziva. She smiled.

"You know I understand," she said.

"I know, but I was really enjoying myself," he said.

"I can take a taxi home," Ziva said.

"NO. I picked you up, so I deliver you home. It's the rules of dating," he smiled.

"But you have to go," Ziva said.

"I'm the boss, that means I make the rules," he said. "Shall we leave, Miss David?"

"Unfortunately," she said.

The drive back to her apartment was in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence but a comfortable one. Ziva placed her hand on Tony's thigh as he drove, which drew a smile from him. He parked in front of her apartment then they both got out and he walked her to the door.

As they stood there for a moment, Tony contemplated kissing her. Ziva lifted her face so that he had the opportunity. Slowly, he started to lower his face to hers. They were about to kiss when her smartphone rang causing them to both laugh.

"It has to be Gibbs. He has supernatural timing," said Tony.

Ziva answered her phone. Tony gave her space to talk. He understood what it was like to get a call on a Saturday night from Gibbs. Ziva hung up.

"The finger Heather Sloan has belongs to a female marine," she said.

"Jesus," Tony said and closed his eyes.

"Shall I wait for you?" he asked.

"No. I need to change. I'll meet you there," she said.

She reached and placed her hand behind Tony head and drew his mouth to hers. Ziva then gave him a long passionate kiss, which made Tony not want to leave her. When their mouths parted both of them need to take a breath.

"I'll see you at Channel Six," he said then turned and left.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Ten

Arriving at Channel Six, Tony saw that Wayne had picked up Ducky as he asked. Gibbs had Jimmy and his new assistant there all for a finger. He knew that Gibbs would want to have his people handle all the forensics, since it would be quicker that way. Now they had to negotiate who did what.

"Jethro," smiled Ducky as he entered the newsroom and offices area of Channel Six.

"Duck," nodded Gibbs then he looked at Tony. "I thought we could get the body. NCIS isn't backed up with bodies and autopsies."

"And Abby is the best. I agree. Ducky is Metro's consultant on this, though. I want him involved, but on this he belongs to me," said Tony.

Gibbs shrugged his shoulders in agreement. He was hiding his amusement at Tony being in charge of his own people. All the years they had been together and all he had taught him seemed to have paid off. Tony saw Heather Sloan was talking with Hawes, Justiz, McGee, and Ziva. Probationary Agent Kane was standing waiting for orders. Detective Moore showed up.

"Hey, Boss," she said.

"Well, you are taking the finger, Boss," said Tony to Gibbs.

He nodded yes.

"Anna, go with the finger to NCIS through the chain of evidence. Ducky will be going along with you," Tony said.

"Dr. Mallard, we are going to be spending some quality time together," she smiled and put her arm through Ducky's and walked him over to Jimmy and his assistant.

"This should be lovely, my dear," Ducky said.

Tony watched Ducky then smiled. He then looked over at Gibbs, who had rubber gloves on and was reading the note.

"She is still alive according to this note," Gibbs said.

"Read it," said Tony.

"A finger to point the way. She has enough air and life in her to last until Monday 6 PM. Enigma," read Gibbs. "Would he lie about this?"

"No, Boss. It's all a game between him and me. He's not going to lie to me because he wants to beat me outright," said Tony.

"Hawes," called Tony. "Bag the finger and bring me the box it came in."

"Yes, Inspector," said Hawes.

Jimmy bagged the finger and Hawes brought over the wooden box. Tony put on a pair of rubber gloves on and examined the box. There was an N at one end and an S at the other. It was a clue.

"Which way was the finger laying in the box?" asked Tony.

Hawes looked at his smartphone where he had snapped a few photos. He showed Tony.

"South. The finger was pointing south but also towards the east," Tony said.

Gibbs smiled.

"I'm guessing he is pointing us towards Baltimore," said Tony. "She is somewhere in Baltimore, Gibbs."

"We need to find out where she is stationed and all other relevant facts about her," said Gibbs. "McGee!"

McGee came running from Heather Sloan.

"Yeah, Boss," he said.

"I need everything on our female marine now," Gibbs barked.

"Yeah, Boss," McGee said then hustled off.

Gibbs looked at Tony, "Baltimore is your town."

"Yeah, I better call some friends I know there," he said.

"She must be buried if she is going to run out of air," said Gibbs.

"No, all that means is that she will continue to breathe until Monday at six in the evening," said Tony.

NCIS

McGee gathered information of her. She was a first Lieutenant out of Quantico, Lieutenant Anna Hess. Her photo showed an attractive brunette and according her personnel jacket she was an excellent marine. This put the search on.

Tony contacted Baltimore PD and gave them the basics: kidnapped female marine, serial killer, clock was ticking and time was up at six P.M. on Monday. She was more than likely hidden in Baltimore. Tick, tock, tick, tock. Now they needed a clue. Ducky and Jimmy were working on the finger, not that the chances it would give them much. Most of their hopes were with the box, which Abby was working on. Tick, tock, tick.

Tony sent Hawes, Holloway, and Justiz to Baltimore. Moore was to stay with Ducky and the evidence. Everyone else were working their other cases for now. They were told to keep in touch with him and stay in a motel until Monday at six. Gibbs sent Kane with them, leaving McGee and Ziva to hunt down any clues.

Saturday evening became Sunday morning and Ziva and McGee returned. Ziva noticed that Gibbs was drinking a fresh cup of coffee and Tony was missing.

"Where is Tony?" she asked.

"He went to the vending machines," Gibbs answered.

She put down her backpack then she went off searching for Tony. He was standing in the hallway staring at the vending machines. His stomach told him he was hungry, but the vending machine wasn't offering anything that he really wanted at the moment.

"I had hoped that the machine had been updated," he said knowing Ziva come up behind him.

"You heard me," she said in surprise.

"No, my lovely ninja, I smelled you," he smiled. "Donna Karan Golden Delicious. You still have some on your skin from last night."

He turned around to look at her. Before he could say a word, Ziva was in his arms and kissing him. He was surprised, but he didn't fight it. Why would he fight something he often dreamed about?

The kiss lasted long and went from testing to deep and passionate. When they stepped back in order to take a breath, both of them stared at each other with a mix of desire and tentativeness. Some much could be ruined if they took their relationship down this road. A friendship could be ruined if it didn't work out between the two of them. Yet, there was so much more that they could gain from this relationship.

Neither one of them had success in relationships. It seemed that they both had a gift for falling for the wrong person, or for the right person at the wrong time. Each had caused the other pain on occasion in the past, though both knew that the other really did care deeply for them. Thiers was a volatile relationship, one that if it worked could be the answer for what was missing in their lives.

"I'm still hungry," said Tony.

His right hand went behind her head and his left hand caressed her cheek, as he brought her in for another kiss. He stopped right before their lips met.

"Are you ready for us?" he asked.

"I'll never know until we do it," she answered.

"I guess that means we just have to take a leap of faith," he said.

"Go on and leap, Tony," she said.

Tony devoured her mouth. For several intense minutes, the two of them lost track of time and place. Finally, someone clearing their throat brought them back to earth. They looked over to see a smiling Ducky.

"Anthony, I was looking for you," he said.

"Duck, how are you?" he said.

"It would seem I'm interrupting," Ducky said.

"No, Ducky, you weren't interrupting us," said Ziva, who seemed slightly embarrassed.

"My dear, I'm just glad you and Anthony had the intelligence to finally take a positive step towards each other," Ducky said.

"Thanks, Duck. What do you have for me?" asked Tony.

"A filet knife was used to cut off the young woman's finger," said Ducky. "Abby also found some blood transferred from the filet knife to her skin. It is fish blood."

"Filet knife, fish blood," said Tony to himself. "She is on a boat."

"Excellent, Anthony. After Abby found the fish blood on the finger, she re-examined the box the finger came in. This time she delicately removed the brown paint and found and image of a boat on the wooden lid of the box. Our Lieutenant is probably on a boat," said Ducky.

Tony walked away from Ducky and Ziva without another word. Ducky smiled and looked at Ziva.

"Don't hold it against him, Ziva. He is under a great deal of pressure with this case. Each murder he is taking personal," Ducky told her.

"I understand, Ducky," she said.

"He is a good man, Ziva. I don't want him to become like Jethro. They are too much alike as is," said Ducky.

"Gibbs and Tony alike?" she said.

"After Shannon, Jethro kept marrying the wrong woman isolating himself. After Wendy, Tony became a womanizer isolating himself. Both men are devoted to their jobs and both men are lonely in their way. When not working they fill their lives with hobbies. Jethro has his wood working and Anthony has his movies," Ducky smiled. "He is afraid to share his love and he does love you. I hope you realized that."

She kissed Ducky on the cheek then looked him in the eyes.

"Thank you, Ducky," she said.

"You're welcome, my dear," Ducky said.

NCIS

Tony in his Camaro and Gibbs and his team in their Dodge Charger. Tony was sure she was in Baltimore or somewhere just out there close to Baltimore. Maybe she was in the Chesapeake Bay? Wherever it was she was there waiting to be found. He needed to save her; he needed to beat Enigma.

Tony's people were staying in a motel out near the airport. He stopped off there first to find that Hawes was still there in one of the rented rooms.

"Hey, Boss, Baltimore PD is working the boat angle with us," he told Tony.

"Excellent," Tony said then looked at his watch. "It's noon Sunday. We don't stop until we find her, Jason. I want her alive."

"I understand, Boss," he said.

"Do you have a room for me?" asked Tony.

Hawes took a key with a keychain with a number attached to it and tossed it to him. Tony caught it.

"Holloway and Justiz are shacking up. That's your room now, Boss," said Hawes.

"Thanks, Jason," he said.

Within fifteen minutes Tony had his bag unpacked, got undressed, and was standing under a hot shower. As the spray of the hot water relaxed his muscles, his mind wandered. He knew he was missing something with the case, some clue that would help him find the woman. It had to be there, something that he would supply and no one else. _Think, DiNozzo, think. A woman's life is at stake on this one, so think. You used to be a thinker when you worked homicide. Hell, you used to be a thinker when you first joined NCIS, but you've slacked off the past few years. Picked up your damned game. _

The water managed to relax him a little too much. He was starting to feel tired and he couldn't afford to sleep. He changed the water from hot to cold and forced himself to stay under the water. The tired froze away as the cold water re-tensed all his muscles. He turned the water off and got out of the shower.

Wrapping a towel around his waist, he exited the bathroom. Sitting on his kind size bed was Ziva. She was dressed in fatigues with a blue shirt and a light jacket. Her hair was down, which Tony preferred. She looked concerned.

"You haven't slept in a while," she said.

"No time," he said.

"We are all working on this, Tony," she said.

"I know, Zi," he tried a smile but it wasn't one of his better ones.

"I'm worried about you," she said.

"No reason to be," he said. "I'm like Edward G Robinson in _The Stanger_. I'm slowly but surely putting together a case."

"I have never seen that movie," she smiled. "You will have to show it to me some day."

"I'd love to, Zi," he said. "Now, why are you here?"

"Gibbs sent me to make sure you eat and then get some rest," she said.

"He's not my boss any longer," Tony said.

"He cares for you, though," said Ziva.

She stood up and walked into his personal space. This time he smiled for real, as he looked down into her eyes. He swore he could get lost in her dark brown eyes. Ziva looked down at his towel around his waist.

"I know of one way to make sure you get rest," she said.

"Very funny," he said.

"Ducky told me that you love me, is that true, Tony?" she asked.

"Ducky is a very smart man," he answered.

She smiled and quickly with her right hand pulled away the towel leaving him nude in front of her.

"Zi, give me back my towel," he said.

"Why?" she teased. "You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm aware of that," he said.

"You have to ear the towel back," she smirked.

Suddenly, thoughts of the boat and Enigma were pushed out of his mind. All he could think about was Ziva and the effect she had on him. He took her into his arms and attacked her mouth. She responded by attacking his mouth.

Ziva began to pull him towards the bed. As they both landed on it, he began to laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

"It looks like I'm going to get some rest," he said then laughed.

NCIS

He lost two hours of time in bed with Ziva and another four by falling asleep when she went to shower. When he woke up, he was furious with himself. No way was he going to let enigma win. The answer to finding her he knew was within himself.

Tick, tock, tick, tock, more hours passed. Overnight he had his men and the Baltimore detectives he knew working looking for the Lieutenant. Gibbs had his team looking also. His hunch came over him as the time winded down. Suddenly, he was positive he knew where she was. He started to call around to fishing boat charters checking with team to see if any had a boat named the _Valentino_. One did.

With less than an hour to go, he raced off the boat charter that was located near the Annapolis Chesapeake Bay Bridge on the Magothy River. He didn't bring backup because if he was wrong he didn't want to waste anyone's time but his own. As he drove his smartphone rang. It was lying on the passenger seat.

He pressed the button to answer it then the one to turn the speaker on.

"Tony, where are you?" demanded Ziva.

"Working a hunch, Zi," he said.

"Tell me where you are going. You need backup," she said.

"My phone is on and the GPS is working. Have McGee trace me, Zi," he said then hung up his smartphone.

Pulling into the charter's parking lot, he rushed into the office. The man behind the desk was overweight with white hair and a salt and pepper thick beard. He looked like he had fished the Chesapeake Bay for twenty years or better. Tony showed him his badge and made sure he saw his gun.

"You got a boat named the Valentino, where is it?" he barked.

"Anchored in the river. Someone has rented but it hasn't moved except to be anchored towards the other shoreline," he said.

"You got a boat that can take me to it," he said.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Take me to it," Tony demanded.

By the time they got to the Valentino it was getting closer and closer to six in the evening. When the motorboat got close enough, Tony jumped on the fishing boat. He knew Enigma wouldn't be on it, so he headed straight down into the cabin. Trussed up to a chair was Lieutenant Anna Hess. She was tied and gagged and her eyes were filled with fear.

Tony pulled a knife out from his pocket, "I'm a cop."

He cut her gag then he cut ropes. Tony noticed her right hand was missing a pinkie and it had been bandaged up.

"There is a damned bomb on this boat," she said.

Tony looked at his watch. They had barely anytime to get off the boat.

"Come on we are getting off this boat," he said.

He helped her up and out of the cabin. They got to the side of the boat to see the charter guy had motored away. Tony knew that they had no choice.

"Jump," he ordered and the two of them went into the river just as the boat exploded.

As they sank under the water, Tony saw that the water lit above their heads from a fireball. It was after that he felt himself losing on consciousness. _I hope we do not die. _


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Eleven

Hospital rooms all had one in thing in common they were places you just didn't want to wake up in because it meant you'd been injured. Consciousness slowly returned for Tony. He opened his eyes and immediately took in the salient facts that the room had all the warmth and medical equipment of hospital room. Along with the sight, he smelled coffee so Gibbs either had been there or was there, and someone was holding his right hand. Looking down he saw Ziva sleeping in a chair and holding his hands. With further exploration, he saw Gibbs in the corner seated and sipping a coffee.

"Hey, Boss," he said in a hoarse voice.

"DiNozzo, are you trying to get yourself killed?" asked Gibbs. "You got yourself a nice concussion and a large, sharp piece of wood stuck in your back right under your right shoulder blade. Do you like to get into trouble?"

"Not that I am aware of, Boss," said Tony. "How's Lieutenant Hess?"

"Fine. She's a little bruised and battered along with dehydrated and hungry, but she was the one who dragged your ass to shore. She is going to be released today and I'm driving her to NCIS to take her statement," said Gibbs.

"She see who kidnapped her?" asked Tony.

He asked but he knew that they weren't going to be that lucky. Enigma was too smart for that. The bastard wouldn't let this end that easily.

"No. She told us she was at a bar. After she finished her drink, she left to go to her car then started feeling tired and dizzy. She passed out and woke up on the boat tied up and blind folded," explained Gibbs.

"When can I get out of here?" Tony asked.

"Ask Ziver when she wakes up. She's been in charge of taking care of you, DiNozzo," Gibbs smiled. "It seems that you belong to her."

Gibbs stood up and stretched, "Well, I better let Detective Hawes know that you are awake and feeling better. He sent everyone back to DC, but has stayed himself."

"Tell him to go home and see his family and I'll talk to him later," said Tony.

"Rest," said Gibbs then he exited.

Tony lay back down in the bed and tried to do as he was told. Unfortunately, rest was coming easy. Yes, they saved the marine lieutenant but all that would manage to do was make Enigma double his efforts to show up Tony in their game.

"You should sleep," he heard Ziva's voice say softly.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. She was wild haired and disheveled and the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life.

"Sorry," he said.

"About what?" she asked.

"Almost getting killed," he said.

"You should be. You do not take chances like that without having backup. You have a whole unit full of detectives working for you but you decided to be the lone cowboy," she stated.

"That's Lone Ranger," he smiled.

"Do not correct me right now," she warned him.

There was no room for argument in her tone, which made him smile. The one thing he didn't want to do with her was argue.

"I love you, Zi," he said.

Her eyes opened just a little wider. She wasn't expecting this from him. Maybe she knew he felt this way, but she didn't expect him to say it so soon.

"You hit your head harder than I thought. I should get the doctor," she said.

"Nay, I hit it just right. I don't need a doctor," he smiled.

"Tony," she said then took a pause.

He knew the tone all too well. She was going to apply the brakes to the situation, add a little logic and Israeli common sense, but he wasn't going to have that.

"Zi, you don't have to say it in return. You don't have to love me even. All you have to do is know that I love you and I'm no longer willing to hide from it. Maybe it was the hit on the head, but I don't want to hide my feelings about you any longer. I guess you're just going to have to live with my feelings towards you," he told her.

He waited for her response. At first, her face was scrunched up in annoyance. He had gotten by her defenses before she had a battle plan, but then her expression change and his heart sang. Her Mona Lisa smile made an appearance. It was the same one he snapped a photo of in Paris. It was the smile that gave his heart hope.

"You are too stubborn for your own good, Inspector DiNozzo," she said.

"I know, Special Agent David," Tony said.

"You almost got yourself killed, Tony; I can't let that happen. We have too much to work out between us. You know that I also have feelings for you," Ziva said.

Tony tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her towards him. She didn't fight him. Instead, she allowed him to pull her into his arms and into his bed.

"I'm sorry, Zi," he said.

"Are you, Tony?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am. I didn't mean to worry you. I meant to beat Enigma. The bastard can't be allowed to win this game between us. I have to beat him," Tony said.

"I know, Ahuvi Sheli," she said.

"Ahuvi Sheli?" he asked.

"My love," she smiled.

"I like that," he grinned. "Now when I can I go home?"

"I will talk to the doctor," she said.

"Thank you, love," he said.

NCIS

Ziva got permission to take him home under the condition that he wasn't left alone for the first twenty-four hours. She drove them to her apartment first to pick up a few things then to his apartment. As he was trying to open their door, his neighbor Jordan came out of her apartment. She was holding her smartphone to her ear as if she was listening to someone. As she brought it down Tony thought she had taken of photo of him and Ziva but disregarded it as paranoia.

"Hey, Tony," she said then looked at the bandage on his forehead and then Ziva. "You okay?"

Ziva looked at his neighbor. She didn't want to feel jealous of the attractive woman, but she couldn't help herself. Now that she was trying to have a relationship with Tony, she was feeling territorial.

"Jordan. I'm fine," he said then he looked from Ziva, who looked guarded if not annoyed by his neighbor's presence, to Jordan. "Jordan, this Ziva David, my ex-partner at NCIS…"

"And his friend," she completed his sentence.

"Well, it good seeing you again, neighbor," she said.

"Have a good one, Jordan," he said then let him and Ziva into his apartment.

Once they were inside, Ziva dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around Tony. A passionate kiss and caress of his face later, she let go of him.

"Jordan is no one. I never even dated her. Hell, I haven't been dating much lately anyhow. I guess I've been wanting more out of life, out of relationships lately," he admitted.

"You shall have more than," she smiled. "Go sit down on the couch and I will make you some real food. I know you hate hospital food."

"God, I love you," he said with a big grin.

"Thank you," she said sweetly then she went into the kitchen and opened his refrigerator door.

He sat down on the couch. From his comfortable vantage point, he heard her sigh of exasperation. If he wasn't mistaken, she had just found out his deep dark secret: he hardly ever had food in the house. He lived on takeout and restaurant food.

"Tony, all you have is beer, old pizza, old Chinese, and not much else in your refrigerator," she said.

She came into his living room. Tony tried to hide his amusement.

"Okay, I still live like a college student," he said.

"This I cannot allow. You need to eat healthier," she said.

"I hope you don't mean vegetables," Tony sighed.

"Yes, I do," Ziva countered.

"There is no use in arguing with you, is there?" he asked.

"No. And the sooner you come to understand this the better it will be for you," she said. "I'm going out and getting you some proper food then bringing it back here and making you a proper meal. I thought pasta primavera would be nice."

"I wouldn't mind that," Tony smiled.

"Good," she said then she walked over to him and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips.

"We could order in and have food delivered to us," he suggested.

"I want you eating healthy and the best way to assure that is to cook the food myself," she said.

"Okay, you win," he said. "I'll sit here and pass out while you go and collect the makings of a late lunch."

She kissed him again, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

NCIS

Ziva returned, made them pasta, and then ended up in Tony's bed. They made love for hours without talking. Instead of conversation or talk, they allowed for their pent up passion for each other to spill out and break on the rocks of their lovemaking. After all these years, they had as much not to talk about as they did to talk about. Once they were finally spent, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Tony wasn't sure what time it was when his smartphone rang. He reached for it and answered it.

"Yeah," he said in a confused hoarse voice.

Ziva's head didn't leave his chest.

"_Boss, we have a body and it's from Enigma_," said Hawes.

"Tell me about it," he said.

"_I got a call from a burner cellphone. The voice was run through one of those machines that distorts it. It said that Inspector Batman won a round so he had a gift for you. He gave me an address in Georgetown. I called in Holloway and Justiz and then we checked out the address. It belonged to_," Hawes paused.

"Who did it belong to, Jason?" asked Tony.

"_A Ziva David_," he said.

Tony's stomach turned, "Was there anyone in the apartment?"

"_Yes_," he said. "_A woman with long dark brown hair. She had her throat cut. A very pretty girl. We are checking her prints now_."

"I'll be there soon. I'm going to call in NCIS on this one, too," Tony said.

"_Don't blame you. They have to protect one of their own_," he said.

"Yeah," Tony said then hung up.

He placed the smartphone back on the night table. Ziva sighed.

"What is wrong?" she asked.

He kissed her head, "I'm going to protect you with my life if I have to, ZI."

"Tony, what is wrong?" she asked.

"Enigma killed someone and put them in your apartment," he said.

She sat up like a bolt and stared at him. He saw no fear in her eyes or face, but anger. If he was honest with himself, he'd rather see fear in her eyes. Enigma should be taken seriously.

"I will kill the bastard," she said.

"We need to get dressed and check it out. I also want to call Gibbs," he said.

"Go on," she said as she tossed off the sheet and got out of bed. "I am taking a shower then we will go."

"Zi, I meant what I said. I won't let him touch you," said Tony.

"I will accept you as a lover or boyfriend, maybe even something more, but not as a protector, Tony. I can take care of myself," she said then left.

He laid back done in bed and sighed. What was difficult now had become even more so and even more painful. But wasn't that what he wanted.

It took less than an hour but they arrived on site. Gibbs was already there with Hawes. He looked like a man ready to chew heads off live chickens. Jimmy was there with his assistant. Hawes had them waiting.

"DiNozzo, tell him that you are okay with NCIS doing the autopsy," growled Gibbs.

"It's okay, Detective," said Tony. "They can get it done quicker than us and with quicker labs."

"Okay, Boss," said Hawes then he nodded at Jimmy.

Jimmy looked over at Tony, who nodded yes. The NCIS ME and his assistant went to the body. Tony looked over at Ziva, who was pacing like a caged animal. Gibbs walked over to Tony.

"He's coming for her because of you. What do you intend to do?" asked Gibbs.

This was his form of tough love, a kick in the head or a smack in the teeth in order to get the person to react the way he wanted. He especially knew how to motivate Anthony DiNozzo.

Tony glared at him for a moment, "NCIS and Metro are now working this case together. As for Special Agent David, I request her as a liaison until this case is closed."

Gibbs smiled, "Will you take care of her, DiNozzo?"

"You know I will, Boss," said Tony.

"We'll talk to Vance tomorrow. We make this work," said Gibbs then he moved in close. "Keep her by your side."

"Yes, Boss," said Tony.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Twelve

Gibbs and Tony sat at Vance's conference table watching the Director of NCIS review their report and DiNozzo's request. Leon Vance read the report then put it down and picked up a toothpick still in a wrapper. He unwrapped it then placed the toothpick in his mouth.

"Anybody up to ordering out for pizza," Tony remarked. "I'm a bit peckish. Or Maybe I'm Gregory Peckish. I'm not too sure."

Vance looked at DiNozzo with annoyance for a moment. He remembered why he had trouble liking him as a special agent, even though he knew he was good at what he did.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs warned him.

"I'm sorry, but I only have so much time to waste," Tony said. "This bastard is threatening Ziva. Metro has the manpower to keep her safe. I can keep her safe. Director, make her a liaison for now, so I can stick my people to her like glue."

"We take care of our own, Inspector DiNozzo," said Vance.

"I know. I used to be one of you and not too long ago," he said. "You know Ziva, Director; she won't go to a safe house. She'll go all I'm Mossad trained and I'm not afraid of anything. She is no longer that person; she's no longer an assassin. Are you going to call in the FBI in to protect her? She won't have it. Shit, I can't blame her. The FBI isn't perfect. You know what I'll do to protect Ziva, Director. I know you that you know how I am with her. You give her the liaison post then she can work the case and be protected."

"Leon, I trust DiNozzo to protect her," said Gibbs.

"You're team will be down a man," said Vance.

"I'd rather be down a man for a short time then lose one," said Gibbs.

"Talk to Agent David and tell her about her temporary position," said Vance.

NCIS

Gibbs grabbed Ziva and led her to the elevator for a talk. Once inside he pressed the emergency stopped button trapping them there. He looked at her with his ice blue eyes.

"Vance and DiNozzo have come to an agreement. You are going to be a temporary liaison agent to Metro on this case. You'll work with DiNozzo's Major Crime Unit taking his orders until we catch this bastard," he said.

She glared back at him. They were trying to protect her and she hated being protected. She hated being treated as if she was weak or easily broken.

"Send McGee," she said.

"You are going to be the liaison or you are going to a safe house. It is you choice, Agent David?" growled Gibbs, sounding more like the gunny he was than the special agent he is.

"I do not want special treatment," she said.

"This isn't special treatment, Ziver; this is trying to catch a serial killer, who has decided to make you a piece in his game," said Gibbs.

"I will be the liaison," she hissed.

"Good girl," he said then leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

"I do not like taking orders from Tony," she said.

"Then marry him and he'll have to take orders from you," smiled Gibbs.

"That is not funny, Gibbs," she said.

"It's a little funny," he said and started up the elevator.

As Ziva and Gibbs exited the elevator to return to the bullpen, they heard Tony prodded Agent Kane.

"So, Gil, with that square jaw and cheekbones of yours, I'm thinking you were drawn not born," he said.

McGee watched with fascination. After he told Tony finally about the Riddler coincidence, Tony looked something up on Gibbs computer. Once he looked up the information, he then started in on Agent Kane. It was as if Tony had turn on the interrogation crazy cop vibe that he liked to use.

"Very funny, DiNozzo," said Kane.

"Inspector DiNozzo, Agent Kane," Tony corrected him. "We haven't been formally introduced. At least, I don't think I know you well enough yet."

"Inspector DiNozzo," said Kane.

"Why did you become a NCIS agent, huh? Didn't male modeling work out?" Tony prodded him.

"Do you have a problem with me, sir?" asked Kane, as he started to squirm sitting at what used to be Tony's desk.

"My instinct tells me that there is more to you, Gil, and then there seems to be," he said. "Did you know Bob Kane created Batman along with Bill Finger? I looked that up when McGee told me about Ed Nygma, E. Nygma, being the Riddle. Weird huh? Kane. Bob Kane. And did you know that Gil Kane was a comic artist? He even drew Batman at one time."

"Everything about this case is weird from what I see," said Kane.

"There is a leak at NCIS. Someone had to have given my personnel file to Enigma," said Tony. "He seems to know too damned much about him, like he might have read some of my psych profiles and remarks made by the shrink about me."

"DiNozzo, are you accusing my agent of being the leak?" asked Gibbs.

"I don't know him, Boss. I know McGee. I know you. I know Ziva, but I don't know him," said Tony. "I'm not even sure that he exists."

Gibbs looked at Kane. His record was perfect, maybe too perfect. He was former marine who became an NCIS agent. He wasn't a talker and he probie who did need much hand holding. It was as if someone knew Gibbs and designed a replacement agent for Tony.

"McGee, run Agent Kane's personnel file and check to make sure he is the real deal," said Gibbs.

"Are you saying I'm made up, Gibbs, that I'm not real," said Kane.

Gibbs noticed the gleam in his eyes. The man was amused. Before anyone could react, Gil had his Sig Sauer in his hand and pointed in the direction of Gibbs and Ziva.

"Enigma said you'd eventually see through me, Inspector Batman," said Kane. "What gave me away?"

"I don't know you and you like to stay in the background unnoticed a little too much for my taste," Tony said.

"We can't all be showoffs like you," smiled Kane. "Now I'm walking out of here with…"

He paused as he seemed to do a silent eeney meaney miney mo with his gun between Gibbs and Ziva. The gun stopped on Ziva.

"I'm walking out of here with her," said Kane. "Enigma does want her next. She is precious to the Inspector, so he wants to play with her."

"I don't think so," said Tony.

Kane looked over at Tony in time to see him take a small knife from his belt buckle and throw it. He wanted to react by shooting someone by he found that he was too busy gargling blood and dying. The knife was now imbedded in his throat. He dropped the gun and fell to the floor dying.

"Rule 9. Always carrying a knife," said Tony.

"I taught you well," said Gibbs.

Most of the agents on the floor were now standing around listening to Kane's death rattle. Ziva looked over at Tony. She knew that he would have gone with Kane himself rather than let her go. He looked over at her.

"What the hell is happening here?" barked Vance as he came down the stairs.

"We found a leak," Gibbs said then he looked at McGee. "Call Palmer and tell him he has a pickup in the bullpen."

"Yes, Boss," said McGee.

NCIS

Ziva sat across from Tony in a Georgetown Pub. He had let his people know what happened. Hawes sent Moore over to help in finding out as much as possible on Gil Kane. He then sent Officer Wayne and Detective Washington to protect Ziva and Tony. Tony's reaction was to send them home and take Ziva to a pub for some food and a good stiff drink. Both them ordered a single malt scotch and a cheeseburger platter. As they waited for their food, they sipped their drinks.

"You can stay at my place or I can stay at your place," he said.

"No sex," Ziva stated.

"I agree," said Tony. "The point is to protect you and that's all. Sex will get in the way."

With a furrowed brow, Ziva stared at Tony. She was expecting an argument. He didn't put up a fight.

"Don't you want to have sex with me?" she asked him.

"Okay, I can feel a headache coming on," Tony sighed.

"You didn't answer me, Tony. Don't you want to have sex with me?" asked Ziva.

"Zi, of course, I do. This nothing more I'd like do than to spent a weekend in bed with the woman I love, but I can't afford to let my guard down. Enigma is in my fucking head and I can't risk him getting to you," he said.

Ziva found herself smiling. Even though he was talking about keeping her safe from a serial killer, a madman, he also said that he loved her. She was trying to get that out of him, but he offered it without a fight or a problem.

"So, Tony, you love me?" she smiled.

Tony's body relaxed. Pandora's Box was open and there was no way to close it.

"Yes, I love you," he said. "That's why I want to make sure you are safe and no one else. Gibbs even agreed with me. He knows how much I want to keep you safe."

"Keep me safe by letting me help you find this bastard and bury him," she said.

"I won't argue that point, Zi," he said. "I intend on letting you help. But you also need protection while this happens and I don't want you to put up a fight with me."

"I will not fight you," she said.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really, just as long as I think you are treating me as a capable professional and not a dame in distress," she said.

"Damsel in distress, not dame in distress," he corrected.

"It is a good thing we agreed on no sex because I am tired of you correcting my mistakes with idioms," she growled.

"I won't do it again," Tony smiled.

"Good," Ziva replied.

After dinner, they went to her apartment and she packed a bag. Once that was done, Tony drove them to his place where he installed Ziva in his spare bedroom. While Ziva took a shower, he made a call in to make sure a patrol car was outside of his apartment then he sat down at his piano with two fingers of MaCallan Scotch and started to play.

When his mother died the piano lost most of his interest, even though his father insisted he continued lessons. At an early age, he was told he had real talent, but that didn't mean anything to him. He played for his mother. His interest didn't spark up again until Wendy. She not only thought he had talent, Wendy made him believe he had found real love. Of course, that didn't work out all that well.

Now he liked to play the piano, mainly standards and some jazz, to relax. Hell, it was his mother's baby grand piano and it no longer hurt to be reminded of her. So after a few sips of his scotch, Tony started to play _Lush Life_.

Wearing a white terry cloth robe, she found in the bathroom, Ziva walked into the living toweling off her hair. She sat down on the piano bench beside him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Can you play classical?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said.

As he segued from Billy Strayhorn's _Lush Life_ to a Chopin Nocturne, Ziva smiled. She remembered those days when he was leader of the MCRT as Gibbs went to Mexico and Tony would come to her apartment and they would watch old movies. He was giving her a lesson in cinema at the same time he was also pretending to be a Professor of Film seducing an arms dealer's daughter. She would have never thought after Jeanne Benoit and all the rest that followed that they would finally end up here like this.

"I like this, Tony," she said softly.

"Yeah, Zi, I like this, too," he smiled.

She turned her head and started to nibble on his neck. His face blushed and he started to get aroused.

"No sex?" she said.

He stopped playing and turned taking her in his arms then kissed her. When he finally came up for air, he whispered in her ear, "No sex."

"Can we have no sex in the bedroom?" she purred.

"Hmmm huh," he mumbled as kissed her neck.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Thirteen

Tony woke with Ziva's head resting on his chest. He took a deep breath of her. She smelled of cinnamon, sandalwood, and citrus fruit. Just her scent brought a smile to him.

"Don't we have to go to work?" she asked him.

"I'm the Boss. I can be a little late," he said.

She shifted herself then kissed him. With grace and speed, she grabbed her Sig Sauer from under the pillow and got out of bed. Tony stared at her as she stood there in the nude.

"I need a shower," she said. "I am hungry and you have no food in."

"Shower and dress then I'll take you to breakfast," he said.

She smiled, "Hmm."

Ziva disappeared into the bathroom. Tony grabbed his Glock under his pillow then got out of bed. He walked over to his closet and grabbed a pair of faded jeans and a black chambray shirt. He slipped on a pair of loaders then he grabbed a tan linen blazer draped it on his arm and walked into the living room. Once there he grabbed his hip holster, slipped his gun into it and clipped it to his jeans. Next, he found his badge and clipped it to his waste then he found his wallet and stuffed it into his back pocket. A chance to wash his face, brush his teeth, and gel his hair was all he needed to get ready for work.

On the kitchen nook, he left his smartphone. Retrieving it, he checked for messages. What he found was two voice messages and a text message. He checked the text message.

_Well played, Inspector Batman. You found the girl, found the leak, and protect the damsel. The game is getting fun. Enigma. _

He knew the message came from a burner cellphone, which pissed him off. The bastard was good at what he did, which was being a psychotic bastard. There was no way he was going to let Enigma get near Ziva.

Ziva finally exited the bathroom. Wearing a towel around her, she hustled into the bedroom. Tony pocketed his smartphone and waited for Ziva. It didn't take her long to get dress, as she appeared in cargo pants, a loose fitting, long sleeve, summery white shirt, and a black blazer. Her hair was still down and damp, but she didn't seem to care.

"I am hungry," she said.

"Okay, breakfast first," he said. "And it's on me."

"I know," she smiled.

NCIS

Tony assigned Ziva a desk and told her to work with Holloway and Justiz, who Hawes put as the leads on the Enigma case. He and Hawes went into Tony's office where he showed Hawes the text message.

"This bastard is a real pain in the ass," Hawes said.

"I know," sighed Tony.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Hawes.

"Agent David is under our protection for now, which means I want a patrol car outside my apartment," he said.

"Do you want officer Wayne back in civies to drive you around?" asked Hawes.

"Let me think about it," Tony said.

"I could Washington and Muffat on one of the outstanding cases we have exclusively and Malloy and Hess on the other. That will give us Holloway, Justiz, Moore, Agent David, and me working on Enigma," said Hawes.

"Let's go with that for now," he said. "Have Officers Santos and Wayne assigned to Enigma, also. We can use them to canvas neighborhoods if need be."

"Done," said Hawes then he stood up to leave. "Hey, you've managed to upset his apple cart a little. We are going to nail this son of bitch eventually."

"Eventually," Tony said. "That's the problem I have with this case. Eventually isn't now. I want this bastard stopped and now."

"We are dancing as fast as we can, Boss," said Hawes.

"I know," said Tony as he leaned back in his chair. "We have to find a connection between Annette James and Gil Kane…"

"Is that really his name?" asked Hawes.

"NCIS is checking him out now. By the looks of him, he was a marine, but I doubt his real name is Gil Kane. I bet he changed it," said Tony.

Ziva came into the office. Hawes automatically stood up, which amused Tony. Ziva gave him a look of semi-annoyance then looked at Tony.

"I just spoke to McGee," she said. "Kane was a graduate of Annapolis and a Marine. He joined NCIS two years ago."

"When did he change his name?" asked Tony.

Ziva looked surprised at his question.

"Four years ago he changed his name from Thomas Cane to Gil Kane," she said.

"He met Enigma around four years ago," said Tony, who then looked at Hawes. "Let's check out everything we can about Thomas Cane. Let's see where he was stationed, who his friends were, what his fetishes were, anything that will tell us who Enigma was and when he hooked up with him."

"Sounds good, Boss," said Hawes excitedly as he stood up and headed out of the office leaving Ziva with Tony.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Ziva.

"Hawes will have something for you to do," he said.

"I am your partner. If you go anywhere I am going with you," she said.

"Zi, the primary target and his secondary target traveling together is not a good idea," he smiled.

"Neither is having them sleep together," smirked Ziva.

"My bad," he chuckled. "I admit it, Zi, when it comes to you I am a weak willed man."

"Good," she said, "that will make this relationship go easier."

"So we have a relationship?" he asked.

"I think so. Don't you?" asked Ziva.

He offered her his best, most sincere smile, "Yeah, I do."

"Good," she said. "So, don't try to push me off onto anyone. I am your partner on this."

"I wouldn't have anyone else," he said.

"Good," Ziva replied. "Now we understand each other."

She walked out of the office and shut the door.

"Jeez, I thought I was in charge," he laughed to himself then he picked up the telephone and dialed Gibbs phone number.

"_Gibbs_," he answered.

"It's me," said Tony.

"_What do you want, DiNozzo_?" he asked.

"Kane changed his name four years. Anywhere from a month to six months before he changed his name, Enigma must have met Kane," said Tony.

"_You looking into it_?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah, but you have the assets on this," said Tony.

"_I'll handle it myself. Bring Ziva with you tonight for dinner at my place_," Gibbs said then hung up.

NCIS

It was eight o'clock and Tony felt his stomach wrapped around his spine. Tony pulled up his Camaro in front of Gibbs' house and he and Ziva got out. They walked up the porch steps then Tony opened the door and they walked into the house.

On a homemade grill hanging from hooks so that it sat above the fire in the fireplace, three steaks cooked. The air conditioning was on fighting off the heat of the night and the heat of the fireplace. From the kitchen, they heard Gibbs.

"Make yourself comfortable," he yelled.

Ziva looked at the steaks, "Do you two each this way often?"

"Yup," Tony said then sat down. "Cowboy style steaks. He is probably making baked potatoes and corn along with beer."

"I see," she said.

Gibbs came out carrying two plates with a baked potato and ear of corn on each plate and two beers under his arms. He put the plates down on the coffee table in front of Tony and Ziva then put the beers down.

"DiNozzo, turn the steaks while I get my plate," Gibbs said.

"Sure, Boss," Tony said as he grabbed a fork from his plate and walked over and turned the steaks.

Gibbs came in with his plate and beer, placed it down on the coffee table, and then sat down on the armchair. Tony returned to Ziva's side.

"Almost done, Boss," Tony said.

"I have a couple of trusted marine buddies looking into Kane. You think that this Enigma has been planning this out for years, don't you?" asked Gibbs.

"Yeah, I think he's been planning this since I killed Valentino," said Tony.

"You must have met him. He couldn't have gone through all this trouble and never seen you face to face," said Ziva.

"Ziver has a point," said Gibbs.

"Even if I met him once, it doesn't mean I'll ever remember him," said Tony. "He might have just been a face in the crowd. That reminds me I have to pick up a DVD of the movie _A Face in the Crowd_. Great film."

Gibbs shook his head then he stood up and took Tony's and Ziva's plates. Putting a steak on each of their plate, he gave them back then got himself the final steak. Tony cut into his steak with his folding knife from his pocket. The steak was rare just liked he liked it. He took a bite and savored the meat.

"Best damned steak, Boss," he said. "I love the beer marinate."

"It helps," said Gibbs, who did the exact same thing as Tony.

Not for the first time, Ziva wondered about the relationship of these two men. When she first did a profile of them for Ari, she called them mentor and protégé. In that, profile she completely underestimated Tony and even nicknamed him Agent Meatball. What she never realized until working with them for a year or so was that they were partners. Gibbs counted on Tony not only for outside of the box thinking, but to be his whipping boy letting him take his temper out on him. Tony rolled with it and never complained. No, he bitched and whined sometimes, but never really complained. Gibbs was too important to him to complain. And Gibbs never swayed in his loyalty and opinion of Tony.

She tried the steak with one of her own pocketknives. It was tasty. She had to admit that it was better than she thought it would be.

"Is this what you have every time you have dinner with each other?" asked Ziva.

"No, sometimes DiNozzo cooks. He makes lasagna that I'm fond of," said Gibbs.

"It has lots of cheese and sausage and meatballs," smiled Tony.

"You two are not big on vegetables, are you?" she asked.

"If you want to be invited back, I wouldn't talk about bringing vegetables to the meal," said Gibbs.

"Meat and potatoes or meat and pasta," Tony said then looked at Gibbs. "You also like my Bolognese sauce."

"That's good," said Gibbs as he ate more steak.

Tony looked at Ziva and smiled, "I use pork, veal, and hamburger for the Bolognese."

"Do you only know how to make Italian food?" she asked.

"I spent a summer in Italy with my paternal grandmother when I was nine. I didn't speak Italian, so I spent the whole time with my grandmother Isabella. This meant I spent a lot of time in the kitchen helping her cook and learning to speak Italian," Tony explained.

"Where was your father?" asked Ziva.

"Getting remarried," smiled Tony, but it was one of his defensive smiles. He didn't want to talk about his father. "I cook some English specialties, too."

"Bangers and mash," added Gibbs with a smile.

"I will have to make a meal for you two sometime soon," Ziva said.

"We know you are a good cook, but remember our rule, it has to prominently feature meat," chuckled Tony.

"I shall make meat the main course," Ziva smiled.

Suddenly, she realized she had been accepted into Gibbs' and Tony's standing dinner. It also met that Gibbs accepted Tony and her as couple. After all those years of reminding them of rule twelve, he now doesn't even blink or say a word. He was acting if it was normal for them to be there together and after Enigma was caught, he expected they still would be together.

"I guess she's now part of the dinner party, Boss," said Tony.

"She's your dinner date, DiNozzo," smiled Gibbs.

Tony looked over at Ziva, who stared back at him. He couldn't suppress a smile, "Yeah, she is my dinner date."

She smiled at Tony then looked at Gibbs, "What's for dessert?"

"Chocolate ice cream," he answered.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fourteen

They had Gibbs' approval, so now all they needed was to find a serial killer, who seemed to be planning his game with Tony for fourteen years. After parking his car, Tony checked that a patrol car was stationed out of his place. There was one. He then let him and Ziva into the apartment building.

"I like having dinner with Gibbs and you," Ziva said.

Before opening his door, he leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. As he pulled away, Ziva grabbed his shirt and intensified the kiss. After a few minutes, they finally came up for air.

"What took us so long to get together?" he asked.

"Rules," she smiled.

Tony unlocked his door and started opening it then stopped. His sudden motion kicked Ziva into action. She stepped back and took out her sidearm, as Tony took his sidearm out.

"No lights," he said. "I left a light on in the kitchen."

She nodded. Tony kicked opened the door and walked cautiously into the apartment then turned on the living room overhead light. On his sofa, was a dead young woman with her throat cut and a knife sticking in her chest and holding up a note.

Tony nodded and Ziva started to check the apartment. While Ziva checked, Tony walked up to the body and read the note.

_You can't save them all Inspector Batman. Found her randomly and wanted to give you a gift. Have a good one. _

_Enigma__. _

Tony stared at the young woman. She had to be no older than twenty-one and attractive. He bet she was a college student; someone's daughter who they thought was off at school learning and living. Bile started to turn his stomach upsetting it and making him want to vomit. Another victim, another reason to feel guilty.

"The place is clear," Ziva said then she looked at the note. "Well, at least, we have a handwriting sample now."

"Yeah, at least we have that," he said. "Call Hawes and tell him to send a crime scene team. We have another body."

Ziva walked up beside him and placed a reassuring hand on his arm, "This isn't your fault."

"Yeah, sure," he mumbled.

Ziva looked at him and knew he was blaming himself for the young woman's death. _If I get a chance to kill Enigma, I will. _

NCIS

As the crime scene specialists swept his apartment for evidence or DNA, Tony sat on the piano bench with Ziva beside him. He watched in silence feeling useless as everyone did their job. Looking tired and wearing jeans and a Metro PD tee shirt, Hawes walked over to him.

"Here's what I can tell you so far: the patrol car reported nothing unusual. They said that no one carried anything large into the building and didn't remember see her entering. Next, there is not enough blood from the victim in your apartment. She was murdered somewhere else and moved here. So far, there is no evidence to go on. Finally, her name is Jennifer Hall. She was a twenty and a Georgetown student. She is from Montana and there is nothing about her that cried out kill me," he explained.

"Bastard didn't like the few victors we had, so he had to have a win," growled Tony.

"I know, Boss," sighed Hawes. "I sent Moore and Justiz to her apartment to start getting the tick tock on her life for the past twenty-four hours."

"Who is canvasing the building and the neighbors?" asked Ziva.

"I got our two unies, Santos and Wayne, canvasing the neighbors," said Hawes. "If they come up with anything interesting then I'll send a detective to do a follow up."

"What time is it?" asked Tony, who didn't even bother to look at his own watch.

"One in the morning," answered Hawes.

"I can't stay here," he said.

"We can stay at my place," Ziva said. "You can pack a bag and we can stay there."

"Yeah, sure," Tony said.

"Yeah, Boss, go and get some sleep. Come in late, too, because you need your head on straight. This is his first direct attack against you. I think the bastard is taking it to the next level," Hawes said.

"Yeah, I guess so. Call Commander Amara in the morning and tell him I'll give him an update personally in the afternoon," said Tony.

"I can tell him we close another case, too," smiled Hawes.

Tony looked at him as if he didn't care, "I only care about closing one case."

"I know, Boss," said Hawes.

Tony stood up, "I'm getting a go bag."

He walked towards the bedroom leaving Ziva and Hawes.

"He is taking this too personally," said Hawes.

"That is how he is," said Ziva.

"How the hell is he not an alcoholic or have eaten a bullet if he takes things so personally?" asked Hawes.

"He used to joke about things, keep it light, but now that he is in charge he no longer does. He is like his Boss. You obsess about one case until you solve then move on to the next one," said Ziva.

"Yeah, well, I saw that as a homicide detective in Baltimore he had a 93% closure rate that is remarkable," said Hawes. "I mean in a place like DC or Baltimore you are juggling several cases at once."

"He carries a lot of guilt around with him," said Ziva.

"Well, if you can help him with that, I recommend that you help him. He was a younger man in Baltimore. If he takes that same attitude here in Metro that he had there then he is going to be toast," said Hawes. "I don't want that. I like him and I think he is a good Boss."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Ziva.

He came walking out of the bedroom with a garment bag and an overnight bag. Walking over to Hawes and Ziva, he looked like a man carrying the world on his shoulders and it was finally catching up to him.

"I'm ready," he said.

"I'll drive," Ziva smiled.

NCIS

Tony woke in Ziva's bed to the smell of sausages being cooked. He turned over in the bed and contemplated ignoring the odors and going back to sleep then he caught a look at the alarm clock: it was 9:12 AM. It was time to face the day even if he didn't want to face it. Getting out of bed, he grabbed some clothes, a razor, hairbrush, and toothbrush then headed into the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, he emerged in chinos, a chambray shirt, and loafers, looking freshly scrubbed. He headed into Ziva's little dining area that was right off her kitchen and part of her living room.

From the kitchen, Ziva called to him, "I've made pancakes and sausages with hot coffee and orange juice."

"You didn't have to, Zi," he called back.

He sat down and she walked in with a plate with pancakes and sausages on it and a bottle of real maple syrup. She placed them in front of him and then kissed his head.

"I'll get your coffee and orange juice then we can eat and get to work," she said.

"Thanks, Zi," he said.

"It is not a problem, Tony," she said then headed off to the kitchen.

They arrived at the MCU at 10:30. The first thing Tony did was put in a call to Commander Amara. It didn't take long to get a call back.

"How are you, Tony?" asked Amara.

"Been better, Commander," said Tony.

"You have done great work so far. The mayor and the chief are satisfied so far," said Amara.

"Even though Enigma is out there?" said Tony.

"You saved one woman and found one of his people and put him in the grave. This creep isn't your normal serial killer. I mean he is fucking scary. You are doing fine with him," said Amara.

"I want his ass so bad I can't even explain it," said Tony.

"I understand, Tony. We've all been there with one or two preps who get under your skin and you want to hunt them down and kill them, but you're a cop so you do your job and try to bring the scum in alive," said Amara.

"If I have a chance to bury Enigma, I will," said Tony.

"Make sure it looks righteous. I really like having you leading our MCU. It's running smoothly," said Amara.

"Thanks, Commander," said Tony.

"I'll talk to you later," said Amara then he hung up.

Tony placed the phone in the cradle and took a deep breath. His Commander thought he was doing a good job. The latest body was proof that he wasn't doing a good job. If he was doing a good job, he'd have Enigma wanting him dead and no one else. He needed to push this bastard's buttons have him go after no one but him.

He picked up the telephone and called Heather Sloan. It took three transfers and a five minute wait but he finally got her on the phone.

"Ms. Sloan, I'd like to do an interview with you about Enigma," he said.

"Really, Inspector?" she said not even bothering to contain the excitement in her voice.

"Yes. I think it's time that I speak to someone about him in order to warn the public," he said.

"When do you want to do this interview?" she asked.

"That is up to you, Ms. Sloan," he said.

"Please, Tony, call me Heather. Are you doing anything this evening?" she asked.

"I guess I'm being interviewed," he said.

NCIS

Hawes and Ziva stood behind the camera. On a Channel Six set sat Tony in a Brioni gray suit, blue shirt, and black tie. Sitting across from him was Heather Sloan. She looked like a predator ready to jump on her prey. Of course, she didn't understand who her prey was.

"Inspector Anthony DiNozzo is the head of Metro DC Police's newest Major Crime Unit. He is here to talk about the serial killer who is plaguing our city, Enigma," she said into the camera then she turned and looked at Tony. "Inspector DiNozzo, it seems that Enigma is has a personal attachment to you."

"Enigma is a disturbed, delusional man, who someone has convinced himself that I am Batman and he is a super villain. What he is, though, is a mentally ill man who needs to give himself up," said Tony.

Ziva stiffened. She suddenly realized what he was doing. Hawes made an angry growling noise.

"What is he doing?" asked Hawes.

"Provoking Enigma to come after him," said Ziva.

"Stupid bastard," mumbled Hawes.

Heather Sloan was excited by Tony's willingness to talk.

"So, you are saying that you're not a superhero and he is not a super villain?" she smiled.

"Well, Heather, if I remember my comic books, super villains attacked the superhero. They battled one on one. They didn't kill poor defenseless women. Enigma is not attacking me, is he? He hasn't turned this into a battle man against man, but instead he is hiding behind a bloody chess match," said Tony. "I think he is a coward."

Ziva sighed. If she could she'd take her gun out and shoot the camera, but it was too late. Tony had decided to martyr himself in order to get Enigma to come out and after him. There was no way she was going to lose him now that she finally had him.

"Inspector DiNozzo, aren't you risking Enigma's anger with this interview?" Heather asked.

"Heather, risk his anger? So far, he has shown that he wants to face women not men. What is he going to do, huh, send an angry letter to me? I don't think Enigma has the testicular fortitude to come after me personally. He knows that Batman will spank his ass," Tony said then offered the camera his movie star smile.

Ziva now debated shooting Tony instead of the camera. She couldn't believe he just said what he said. Enigma would be sending everything he had after him now. He'd want to cause Tony physical pain now.

Heather smiled. She couldn't believe what Tony was saying and how he was provoking Enigma. The ratings on this interview were going to be great.

"Inspector DiNozzo, aren't you being a little simplistic here?" she asked.

"Heather, I'm just like a man, unlike Enigma," Tony said. This time the movie star smile was replaced by a smirk. Tony knew that his work was now done. Enigma would be after him and him alone now.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Fifteen

Ziva didn't speak to Tony in the car. She was seething and knew if she opened her mouth nothing but anger and criticism would come out. For too many years, she had seen how under certain circumstances Tony liked to turn the attention of a killer or madman onto him in order to save one of his teammates pain. This time he was asking an extremely dangerous serial killer to turn their attention towards him and him only.

For his part, Tony knew why Ziva wasn't speaking to him and was glad she decided to keep quiet rather than ream him. If she didn't see, why he needed to do this then he'd rather have her silence then her scorn. Enigma had more of a chance making a mistake coming after him than after some civilian.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Your apartment to drop you off. It's fairly obvious you're pissed off with me and need some time alone," he said. "I'll sleep at my place tonight."

"No, you will not," Ziva growled. "Just because I am an angry, it doesn't mean that I want you on your own as an easy target. I am not leaving your side."

"Zi, I think you know that I love you, so you also must know that I have no intention of letting you risk your life to save mine," Tony said.

"You don't know me well, Tony, if you think that I'm leaving you," Ziva said. "Yes, I am angry, but I am now also worried. I need to keep you safe because I love you, too, and I have no intention of leaving you."

Tony opened his mouth to speak then shut it immediately. Ziva just admitted that she loved him. She not only won the argument but she was able to shut him up. He smiled.

"You love me and you're not leaving me?" he asked.

"Yes, Tony, I love you and I am not leaving you," she said. "If I was honest about it I'd probably say that I've been in love with you for years."

"Years, huh?" his smile grew. "How many years?"

"I knew that I loved you when I thought you were blown up in your car. It was devastating. But, when it turned out that you were alive and you were so hurt and angry because of Jeanne, I backed off. I was afraid of getting hurt," she admitted.

"Oh, Zi, I'm sorry," he said softly.

They were quiet for a few minutes then he spoke.

"I finally figured out a few months after that I didn't love Jeanne, I loved being Anthony DiNardo in love with Jeanne," he told her. "My whole life I'd never left so normal, so without insecurities or problems. It felt great, but it wasn't real."

"I'm sorry, Tony," Ziva said.

"Nothing to be sorry about," he said. "You used to confuse me and scare me. I'd get so many mixed signals from you. One minute I thought you wanted me and the next it seemed that if I touched you, you'd cut my fingers off then… Jenny died and it went off the rails for me."

"And I made my own mistakes after that," she said.

"Yeah, let's not go down that road. I feel guilt y enough as is," said Tony, as he pulled up in front of Ziva's apartment.

"Guilty about what, Tony? Surviving. If you didn't kill Michael, he would have killed you," she said.

"You told that I should have shot him in the knee or shoulder," said Tony.

"I was angry," she said.

"Because I killed the man you loved," he said.

"No, because you killed the man I was sleeping with instead of you," she told him.

"I'm still sorry, Zi, because I caused you pain and I don't like causing you pain," he said.

"Let's go upstairs," she said. "Maybe you can find a way to show me how sorry you are."

"Does that mean you are no longer mad at me?" he asked.

"I'm still mad at you, Tony, but angry sex can be good," she smiled.

NCIS

Tony and Ziva did little sleeping in bed. They spent most of the night making love and getting their frustrations out. In the morning, Tony woke feeling better than expected. Getting only three or four hours of sleep didn't throw him for a loop like he thought it would. Ziva was already up and dressed so he got up and took a shower.

Once he was dressed and ready for work in a summer suit, he found Ziva eating toast and sipping tea. She had made him toast and coffee. It was waiting for him at the dining table.

"Morning," he said.

"Morning," she replied with a smile.

"I need to stop by my apartment. I forgot to bring a report that I need to finish," he said.

"We can drop by before work," she said. "I am getting used to working with you."

"Well, you'll be back at NCIS once this is over. Of course, we won't be over, will we?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Our new relationship does survive this case, right?" he asked.

"We'll see," she smiled.

After toast and coffee, they headed off to Tony's apartment. In the car, Ziva found herself smiling. She liked waking up with Tony and carpooling with him. In she was going to completely honest with herself; there was nothing about the time she was spending with him that she didn't like.

Tony parked the car and both of them got out and headed into the apartment. As he got to the front door, his neighbor Jordan exited her apartment. She saw him and smiled.

"Hey, Tony," she said.

He hesitated putting his key in the lock then he turned to face her.

"Yeah, Jordan," he said.

"I have something for you," she said.

"Really," was his response, as he watched her reach into her large purse.

"It's from Enigma," she said.

She pulled out a weapon and fired off two shots at Tony. Ziva reacted in quick fashion pulling her weapon and putting four shots into her. Jordan fell to the floor dead. Ziva turned and looked at Tony. He was leaning up against his door. Slowly, he slid down it leaving a blood trail on the door.

"Tony!" she yelled.

Ziva holstered her weapon and rushed to Tony's side. As she searched his body, she found two bullet wounds. One was in the right side and the other was in the upper chest area. Both were bleeders.

"Hang on, Tony. I'm here with you," she said, as she took out her smartphone and dialed 911. "Officer down. He has been shot outside of his apartment. The shooter is dead. I need a bus here immediately."

She gave the address then tried to apply pressure to both wounds with her hands. Tony stared at Ziva. He felt his eyelids getting heavy, too heavy to keep them open.

"Tony, stay with me. Please, Ahuvi, stay with me," she said.

"Zi," he mumbled then he shut his eyes.

"No, please, Tony, don't leave me," she cried. "Not now. Please don't leave me."

NCIS

The waiting room at Georgetown was full. Hawes, Holloway, and Moore were there along with McGee, Abby, Gibbs, Jimmy, Ducky, and Ziva. Hawes also had several uniformed officers to guard Tony's room once he was place in one. He also had officers keeping the press away. Inspector DiNozzo being gunned down was big news.

Gibbs looked over at Ziva. Her hands were reddish brown with dried blood and her shirt was stained with Tony's blood. Those who were in the waiting room for DiNozzo were staring at her. He motioned to Abby.

"Take her to the Ladies Room and get her cleaned up," he said.

"Okay, Gibbs," she said.

Abby walked over to Ziva and knelt down in front of her.

"Ziva, we need to get you cleaned up. You're covered in blood," Abby said.

"It's Tony's blood, Abby," said Ziva.

"I know, sweetie, but I think it's a good idea you clean yourself up before you see him. Don't you?" asked Abby.

"Okay," she said.

Abby led her away to a Ladies Room. Once they were inside, Abby helped her wash her hands. After that getting most of the blood off her hands, Abby looked at her shirt. It was ruined. Abby reached inside of her own bag and found a black tee shirt.

"Here, sweetie, take off your shirt and put this one on," Abby told her.

Ziva did what she said without thinking much. Her mind and thoughts were with Tony, who was still in surgery. Once she was done, Abby led her back to the waiting room but this time placed her in between Ducky and Gibbs. Gibbs put his arm around her, while Ducky held her hand.

"It is going to be fine, my dear," said Ducky.

"He didn't look fine, Ducky," she said.

"He is a survivor, Ziva. He always has been and always will be," said Ducky.

Another hour passed when finally a doctor entered the waiting room. Since it was an inspector from the Metro PD, the doctor was willing to talk to Hawes and Gibbs, who wouldn't be denied. Ducky tagged along with Ziva beside him.

"The side wound was a through and through. There wasn't much damaged and what there was we fixed it. The chest wound, though, was a bit more complicated. The bullet was stopped from exiting by the shoulder blade. We operated to take the bullet out and repair damage. He lost a great deal of blood, but he'll make a full recover with rest and time," said the Doctor.

"Thank God," sighed Hawes.

"You have no idea, detective. If the bullet that went into his chest was half an inch lower, he would have had a helluva lot more damaged," doctor said. "He might have bled out on the scene."

"When can we see him?" asked Ducky.

"He's in post op now. Once we had him in a private room, I can allow one or two visitors," said the doctor.

"How long of recovery period are we talking about?" asked Ziva.

"Six to eight weeks," said the doctor, "and then he should be placed on limited duty."

"Thanks, Doc," said Hawes.

Ziva looked at Gibbs. He knew at this moment if he talked to her about coming back to NCIS, she would hand him her gun and badge. He needed to put the brakes on things and let her get her head about her before he talked to her about work.

"We are very lucky," said Ducky. "He will do fine. He just needs to be forced to listen to doctor's orders."

"I will make sure that he listens," said Ziva.

"And diet. He needs a healthy diet, Ziva. Pizza and Chinese food on a daily basis has to stop. He needs good nutrition. It will hasten his recovery," said Ducky.

"I will take care of that, also," said Ziva.

"Sounds like you're going to busy with DiNozzo," said Gibbs.

"I have vacation time and comp time coming to me. I will take it all if I have to," said Ziva.

"Don't worry about that now, dear," said Ducky. "Things like that can be dealt with later. Now you should focus on Anthony and you."

"Thank you, Ducky," said Ziva.

It took several hours but finally a highly sedated and medicated Tony was set up in a private room with two uniformed officers in front of the door. Ziva was allowed to slip in and check on him. He was looking pale, but was resting. She pulled up a chair and set it beside the bed. Ziva took his right hand into her hands.

"You hand me worried, Ahuvi," she said. "I thought I was going to lose you. I won't let that happen again. You are going to take care of yourself and I am going to make sure of it."

Tony didn't move. Inside his mind, though, his brain kept going over and over his interview with Heather Sloan. His subconscious was torturing him with it. There was something about the interview that bothered him, something his mind needed to work out.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Sixteen

Before he even opened up his eyes, Tony knew that Ziva was there. He could smell Ziva, her green tea shampoo, a hint of her citrus body wash, and her natural sandalwood and cinnamon scent. Opening his eyes, he saw a concerned looking Ziva staring at him.

"Hey," he said in a hoarse voice.

"Do you want something for your throat?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"I'll get some ice chips from the nurses," she said then got up and left the room.

Tony now took the time to take inventory. He had a nice bandage around his waist and another heavy-duty bandage on the right upper chest. He was on an IV and, if he had to admit it, he felt like shit.

Ziva came back in with a cup of ice. She came close to the bed and held the cup close to his lips and Tony too some of the pieces of ice into his mouth. He savored the cold and wetness. Before he was able to speak, his doctor came into the room to check up on him.

"Ah, my patient is awake. I'm Dr. Ford and you Inspector DiNozzo are lucky to be alive," said the doctor.

"Thanks," Tony said. "How long do I have to stay in the hospital, doc?"

"Think six to eight days," said Dr. Ford. "I'm not letting you go until I know there is no infection and until you have some of your strength back."

"I hate hospitals," mumbled Tony.

"Then you're not going to be happy for the next six to eight days," the doctor said then wrote something on Tony's chart, stuck it back in the slot on his door, and left shutting the door behind him.

"I really hate doctors," said Tony.

"I'm sorry, Ahuvi," said Ziva. "I'll talk to the doctor later and see if I can get you out earlier."

"I'd love you forever if you did," he smiled.

"I'll work on that," she smiled.

He yawned. His eyes were starting to burn with tiredness.

"Get some more sleep, Ahuvi," said Ziva. "I'll be here when you wake up."

"Okay, Zi," he mumbled and drifted off to sleep.

NCIS

Ziva wouldn't allow Hawes or any other Tony's other detectives to talk shop for the first couple of days, which was fine with Tony. Tony was propped up on his bed, which was set in a sitting position. His brain was still milling over why his interview with Heather Sloan bothered him so much. Finally, after three days, she allowed Hawes to visit and talk shop.

"Hey, Boss," he said then looked over at a protective Ziva, who sat in a chair beside the bed. "I guess you managed to piss off Enigma."

"Ya think," he chucked then made a grimace as his chest hurt.

"Do you want a painkiller?" Ziva asked.

"No, I want to talk to Jason," he said then he looked at Hawes. "Here's the deal, I think we have a MacGuffin going on here."

Ziva rolled her eyes, while Hawes looked at him as if he was a little high on meds.

"Hitchcock, Jason, a MacGuffin. It's a plot device. You think its something important but it's nothing at all. I think Enigma's visit to me was a MacGuffin. It made me think he was some guy. It made me rule out woman as Enigma, but what if the guy who visited me was a puppet just Gil Kane, Annette James, and Jordan. I want you to do something important for and start running a background check on Heather Sloan," Tony excitedly explained.

"You think she's Enigma?" asked Hawes.

"I think she is worth a background check," he said.

"Why, Boss?" asked Hawes.

Tony thought carefully about his answer. He could just order it, but he wanted Hawes to check her out with an open mind.

"She asked me if I was being a bit simplistic? It was the tone of her voice, like she sounded as if she was annoyed by the way I was talking about Enigma," he told Hawed.

"She might be one of his puppets," said Hawes.

"Yeah, she might, which means you should do a thorough background check on her," Tony said.

"Alright, I'll handle it myself," Hawes said.

"Enigma has been quiet since I've been in the hospital," said Tony.

"Yeah. He," Hawes said then paused, "or she must be waiting for you to get released."

"I think I manage to piss Enigma off," said Tony. "I think Enigma wants to each me a lesson."

"I think I will kill Enigma if they try," said Ziva.

Hawes tried to hide a smile.

"Um, Commander Amara and the Chief wanted me to give you their best. I think they are both afraid to come around for a visit. I think Ziva scares them," said Hawes.

"They want to bring press people along with them and I won't allow that," she hissed.

"I really, really love you," Tony said.

"Thank you, Ahuvi," she said.

"When are you getting out?" asked Hawes.

"Maybe tomorrow," Ziva answered. "The doctor and I are working things out."

"Whose apartment do I need to set up a patrol car in front of?" asked Hawes.

"Neither. I've talked to Gibbs and he is arranging to take time off. Tony will rest at his house with Gibbs and me protecting him," Ziva said.

"And us. I want police involved," demanded Hawes.

"Do I have a say in this?" asked Tony.

"No," answered Ziva then she looked at Hawes. "We can arrange for something, but to be honest Gibbs lives in Virginia not DC. He lives closer to Quantico Marine Base than here."

"Yeah, we'll work something out," said Hawes.

"Gibbs was a marine sniper," said Ziva, "he can handle himself and he is very protective. And I am Mossad trained and will not let anyone hurt him."

"Yeah, it sounds nice and scary and everything but he is now one of us. He's a Metro cop and we like to take care of our own."

"I am not going to argue," Ziva said with some heat in her words.

"Okay, I'm here and I will tell you how it goes," said Tony.

Ziva and Hawes looked at him.

"If it means getting out of here then I'll go to Gibbs, but I won't be staying for more than two or three days," he said to Ziva. "Once I leave Gibbs' place, I'll expect my people at the MCU to protect me."

"Okay, Boss," said Hawes.

Tony looked at Ziva and waited for her answer.

"I will do what I have to protect you," she said.

"Are you ever going back to NCIS?" he asked her.

"Yes," she said then paused and shook her head, "I don't know. Right now keeping you safe is the most important thing in the world to me."

"Okay, well, I guess we will just have to catch Enigma sooner than later," said Tony, who then looked at Hawes. "Right?"

"That's right, Inspector," he smiled.

NCIS

The doctor gave the okay for Tony's release as long as Ducky agreed to check up on him, he took his meds, and he didn't exert himself. All was agreed to then Ziva helped him pack his bag, wheeled him out of the hospital to his car, which she was going to drive, and then into the car. Once he was situated in the passenger seat, a scowl crossed his face.

"You're driving," said Tony.

"Would you rather walk?" she asked him.

"No, but with you driving, I'd rather live," he said.

"I'll treat you and your car nicely," she said then pulled out of the parking space with a screech and sped off.

Tony's stomach was in his throat, as Ziva drove along. He knew for her she was trying to drive careful, yet she still drove like a taxi driver in Jerusalem on a busy day. For once, he couldn't wait to get to Gibbs' and have to deal with Gibbs' way of being overprotective.

A half hour passed and Ziva pulled into Gibbs' driveway. As the car came to a stop, Gibbs, Ducky, Abby, and McGee came out onto the porch. Tony sighed. He was hoping to avoid too much attention.

"Zi, you should have told me that the MCRT would be here," he said.

"It is a surprise," she said.

"I don't want any surprises," he said.

"They are your friends and then miss you and are worried about you," Ziva said.

"Okay," he said then he started to get out of the car.

Once he was out, he leaned against it, so Ziva came around and gave him a hug of support.

"I feel weak as a kitten," he whispered to her.

"I'll be your strength for now," she said. "Put your arm around my shoulder and I will help you into the house."

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

Ziva helped him up the porch and into the arms of Abby, who gave him a bone crunching hug.

"Abby, I think you are opening poor Anthony's wounds," said Ducky.

"In the house," Gibbs ordered. "I'm making us hot dogs and hamburgers for lunch."

"Grilling them in the fireplace, Boss?" asked Tony.

"No, in the backyard, DiNozzo," said Gibbs. "Put him on the couch."

Ziva and Ducky escorted Tony to the couch, where he sat down and tried to make himself comfortable. What he wanted to do was of his clothes and take a long nap, but he knew he had to fight the urge and be on his best behavior. Ziva was right; they were his friends.

McGee sat down in the armchair across from Tony and looked at the former SFA. He didn't want to admit to Tony, but he was having a hard time making the SFA job look easy, which was what Tony did. Part of him wanted to pick his brain and ask him how he did but he knew this was the place or the time.

"How are you feeling, Tony?" McGee asked.

"Like I've been shot, Tim," smiled Tony.

"You still like to provoke dangerous people instead of play it safe," said McGee.

"Nay, I don't provoke them. I just have an annoying personality which gets under their skin," Tony said with humor.

"Well, you are missed back at NCIS," said McGee.

"Thanks, Tim," said Tony.

Abby came running into the living room. She looked at McGee, who stared back at her.

"Gibbs wants you out back. He wants you to bring in the cooked burgers and hot digs," said Abby.

"Well, the Boss calls," said McGee, who got up and left to do as he was requested.

Abby came over and sat in the vacated chair.

"Come on, Tony Boy, how are you doing?" she asked.

"Better than I was doing, Abs," said Tony.

"I really miss you at NCIS, Tony," she said. "Are you coming back?"

"No, Abs. I'm with Metro now," he said.

"You know that makes me sad," she said.

"I know, Abby," said Tony.

Tony was able to eat two hot dogs and a hamburger along with a beer, which both Ziva and Ducky were against him having. Gibbs was the one who gave it to him. With dogs and burgers eaten and beer drunk, Tony listened to his friends talk as he slowly drifted off to sleep on the couch. He didn't want to fall asleep but his body wouldn't listen to him.

He woke up and it was dark in the house. The smell of coffee filled his nostrils, so he looked over to the armchair to find Gibbs sitting there acting as his guard.

"Hey, Boss, didn't mean to fall asleep," he said.

"Your body needed, Tony," Gibbs said.

"Yeah. Getting shot sucks," growled Tony, as he slowly sat up.

"You think Enigma going to come after you again?" asked Gibbs.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure when," he said.

"He won't get you," said Gibbs.

"He might not be a he," said Tony.

"Then she won't get you," said Gibbs then he took a sip of his coffee.

"It's that simple, Gibbs?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, DiNozzo, it's that simple," smiled Gibbs. "Now get some more rest. I got your six and there is a young woman in love with you upstairs asleep who has your six."

"I guess I'm safe then," smiled Tony.

He lay back down and went to sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Seventeen

When Ziva, who was wearing pajama bottoms and an OSU tee shirt, came down the stairs from a long much-needed sleep. During Tony's time in the hospital, she barely left his side and slept in the chair beside his bed. The thought of leaving him alone didn't even enter her mind. He needed her and she needed to make sure he was safe.

She found Gibbs serving Tony a breakfast of two eggs over easy, five slices of bacon, hash brown potatoes, and toast with butter along with a big mug of coffee. Her paramour looked thrilled at this breakfast, which annoyed her. Tony was supposed to be eating healthy now not like this. She wanted him to be having cereal and fruit for breakfast. It was going to take time and effort to change him of his culinary preferences, but she was determined to do it.

"Hi, sweet cheeks," said Tony, as he tucked into his breakfast.

"Aren't you supposed to be eating healthy, Tony?" Ziva asked him, as she came up behind his chair and kissed the top of his head.

"It is healthy. There is nothing on his plate that isn't natural," Gibbs said, as he brought in a plate full of the same foods and sat down. "Help yourself, Ziver."

"I will make myself a little healthier breakfast than that. Do you have tea?" she asked.

"Yeah, look on the canister marked tea on the kitchen counter," said Gibbs.

Biting into his own breakfast, Gibbs saw that Tony was already almost done with hi breakfast. This brought a smile to his face.

"This is delicious, Boss," said Tony.

"Glad you like, DiNozzo," said Gibbs. "I know hospital food never satisfies."

Ziva came into the dining room and sat down beside Tony. Even though Gibbs was sitting there, she moved close to Tony and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I guess you two are officially a couple now. It was bound to happen," said Gibbs.

"Yes, Gibbs, we are a couple," said Ziva.

"Well, at least, rule twelve isn't being broken," said Gibbs.

"You know I wouldn't break your rules, Gibbs, but they don't count anymore," said Ziva.

"You weren't the problem," Gibbs said as he eyed Tony.

"What did I do?" asked Tony.

"Break rule twelve," said Gibbs.

"Only a few times," smiled Tony.

Gibbs glared at him and the smile slowly faded.

"Okay, more than a few times, but I never broke rule 12 with Abby or Ziva because you treated them like daughters," he said.

"Never?" growled Gibbs.

Ziva had a smirk on her face, which slowly turned to a smile as she thought of Paris. Gibbs noticed her smile.

"I owe your head a slap, DiNozzo," said Gibbs.

"Sure, Boss, I'll remind you," smiled Tony.

Ziva heard the teapot start to whistle. She got up.

"I'm going to get my tea," she said then went into the kitchen.

Gibbs cleared his throat to get Tony's attention. Tony looked at him.

"Take care of her, DiNozzo," he said in a soft, though threatening voice.

"I will, Boss," nodded Tony.

NCIS

It was two days later when Detective Hawes showed up. The moment he came into the house Tony knew he had something. The man looked like he could barely contain himself. Ziva sat beside Tony on the couch, while Gibbs sat in his chair. Hawes handed Tony a folder then sat down in the other armchair.

"Heather Sloan is twenty-eight years old and she was raised by a wealthy family in Baltimore. It seems we are on the right track finally, Boss," said Hawes.

Tony was reading through the file, "She went to The Bryn Mawr School. There doesn't seem to be anything in this file about abuse, which I would have bet on."

"That does not always end up in files, Ahuvi," said Ziva. "You should know."

He smiled at her. His father abused him mentally in many ways and neglected emotionally after his mother died, and even had one or two bouts with psychical abuse, but you wouldn't find any of that in a file.

"Her parents divorced when she was seventeen, a year after Valentino was killed by you," said Hawes. "She ended up leaving Baltimore with her mother for San Diego. She then went to Georgetown in order to be closer to her father. He died two years ago. You see the picture of her father."

Tony went through the folder until he found a picture of Evan Sloan. He was wearing an expensive suit and could pass for Tony's brother. After staring at the picture of Sloan, he handed it to Ziva, who stared at it for a moment then handed it to Gibbs.

"You think she is Enigma," said Gibbs.

"She might be or she might be connected to him. Either way, I think she is the right track for us," said Tony.

"She has a healthy trust fund," said Hawes.

"Enigma would need money to do what he or she is doing," said Ziva.

"Yeah," Tony said softly.

"I think she goes to the top of our suspect list," said Hawes.

"Ya think," added Gibbs.

"I want you to keep digging. See if you can place her with Kane, Annette James, or my daughter Jordan. Either she interacted with them somewhere or she interacted with Enigma, who interacted with them. We have to start putting the pieces of this puzzle together piece by piece," Tony said.

"I'll put Washington and Moore on that," said Hawes.

"Also, I want eyes on her at all time. If she is Enigma, she not done with me yet," said Tony.

"Justiz and Holloway with backup from unies," said Hawes.

"Do we have enough manpower?" asked Tony.

"Well, we picked up another case, but Commander Amara has given us two more unies and is assigning to more detectives to MCU," said Hawes. "I believe the bigwigs think our little department is a success."

"Use who you have to on this case, except Malloy. He is to stay away from this case. I want him safe. His daughter needs him," said Tony.

"I got him on a stalker case of a Senator with Officers Santos and Wayne backing him up. He's doing a good job of it," said Hawes.

"If she isn't Enigma, she is another one of his pawns. Either way, I think we have a way to end this sooner than later," said Tony.

"I got ya, Boss," said Hawes.

"Hawes, make sure everyone is careful and no one is without backup. People like this are at their most dangerous when they feel the end coming. The closer we get to Enigma the more we have to worry about collateral damage," said Tony.

"No one will be without backup, Boss, especially you, right?" said Hawes.

"I have my backup here and when I go home, I'll expect you guys to be it," said Tony.

"We'll take care of you, Boss," said Hawes. "I should get going. It's business at MCU."

He started towards the front door, but Tony stopped him before he left.

"Jason, keep your head on a swivel and makes sure your six is covered," Tony said.

"I hear you, Inspector," Hawes replied then left.

NCIS

Short walks turned to long walks that turned into some sit-ups and pushups. Within eight days, Tony was starting to get his strength back, which meant he was wanting now to get back to light duty and his apartment. He also wanted Ziva to return to NCIS. It was time to get some normalcy back in their lives.

"After I move you back to your apartment then I will return to work," she said.

"I agree with that," said Tony.

After a visit to the doctors for a checkup on his healing, he moved back to his apartment. Hawes had arranged for a patrol to be parked in front of his apartment building twenty-four seven. He also arranged for someone from the MCU to check in with Tony every three hours, except at night. Hawes assumed sharing a bed with an ex Mossad assassin meant Inspector DiNozzo would be safe at night.

Hawes stood in Tony's apartment looking at his boss, who sat on his sofa looking tired. Ziva was preparing dinner.

"She goes back to work tomorrow," he told Hawes.

"And you are coming into work tomorrow for light duty, right?" asked Hawes.

"I'll be there with bells on. I am bored," said Tony. "How is it coming with Heather Sloan?"

Hawes smiled, "She did a piece on returning vets three years ago. Guess who was part of that?"

"Gil Kane," said Tony.

"She and Annette James shared a health club," Hawes stated.

"Even better," smiled Tony.

Piece by piece they were putting together the puzzle. They were starting to close the walls around her. He just hoped she didn't know it.

"How about Jordan?" he asked.

"So far we've made no connection with Jordan Harris and Sloan," said Hawed. "We are trying still to find a connection, though."

"And how about the tail?" he asked.

"Nothing," Hawes snarled. "And Amara is complaining about the money it is costing, so he wants us to put an end to it."

"Damn it," Tony growled. "When does he want them stopped?"

"Immediately," sighed Hawes.

"Okay, stop the surveillance then," said Tony.

Ziva came out of the kitchen and looked Tony then at Hawes.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" she asked Hawes.

"No thank," he smiled. "My wife expects me home."

"What are we having?" asked Tony.

"Pasta with chicken with peas and corn mixed in. Nice and healthy," smiled Ziva.

"What are you having for dinner, Hawes?" asked Tony.

"Fried chicken," said Hawes.

"Can I come home with you?" asked Tony.

"Sorry, Boss, I think there is someone here who wants you to stay here," Hawes said then he nodded to Ziva. "I got to go."

Ziva showed Hawes out then returned to Tony.

"I'll get us dinner then after your stomach has settled we will do some exercise. I need you to get back in shape, Ahuvi," she said.

"Pasta and chicken. Is that with an Alfredo sauce?" he asked.

"No," she said. "It is with olive oil and some grated parmesan cheese. Think healthy, my dear."

"No pizza?" he asked.

"Not often," she said.

"But, Zi, pizza has all the food groups. I know this because I got my degree in PE," Tony whined.

"Ahuvi, I am in charge of your diet now and you will behave," she said then she sat down in his lap and gave him a gentle kiss. "You want me to take care of you, don't you?"

"Zi," he moaned, as she started to wiggle in his lap.

"Don't you?" she asked again.

"You don't play fair, do you?" he whined.

She kissed him more passionately this time and longer. Just as he started to respond, she got up and started to walk towards the kitchen.

"I'm in charge now, Ahuvi. Get used to it," she said.

He sighed, "She's going to be the death of me."

NCIS

The call came in the middle of the night. Ziva woke up and grabbed her smartphone.

"_We are on duty_, _David. We have a dead Petty Officer in Arlington. I'll have McGee text you the address," _said Gibbs over the smartphone.

"I thought I was back on duty in the morning," said Ziva.

"_It's after midnight, so it is tomorrow, Agent David. Now give Inspector DiNozzo a goodbye kiss and get your ass in gear," _said Gibbs then he hung up.

"Boss man?" asked Tony.

"Yes. I have to go," she said then gave him a kiss.

Tony drifted back to sleep, as he heard Ziva ready herself and ready to leave. He wanted to stay awake to say a proper goodbye, but his eyes wouldn't stay open. When he heard a knocking on the front door of his apartment, he looked at the clock and saw that it was now 12:30. He assumed Ziva forget something, like her keys, so he stumbled out of bed and to the front door. There was another knock on the door.

"Coming, Zi," he said then opened it.

Heather Sloan and a large man were standing on the other side of the door. She smiled at him.

"Hello, Inspector Batman. It seems you caught me," she said then Tasered him.

The last thing Tony saw before he passed out was a smiling Heather Sloan and a leering large man. _I'm fucked _was his last coherent thought.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Eighteen

Ziva arrive at the crime scene to find Gibbs talking a local Leo, McGee was taking photos, and Palmer was making an exam of the body. Gibbs noticed her as she entered the apartment.

"Who found the body?" she asked.

"It was an anonymous caller," said Gibbs.

"Agent Gibbs," called Palmer.

Ziva and Gibbs went over to Palmer, who pulled a note out of the dead Petty Officer's picker. Gibbs put his glove on and took the note.

She made a nice diversion. Thank you for leaving Inspector Batman alone. He is now mine. Enigma.

Gibbs his body react to the note. He glared at the local cop and yelled, "Get me Detective Hawes of the MCU. It's an emergency. Tell him to call Special Agent Gibbs of NCIS."

Ziva started to panic. A quick read of Gibbs body language told her something was deadly wrong and it involved Tony. Gibbs looked at Ziva.

"Come on, Ziver, we have to get to DiNozzo," said Gibbs.

He strode out of the apartment with Ziva on his six.

"Gibbs, please tell me Tony is all right," Ziva said.

"I can't do that," he answered.

NCIS

Tony woke up and he was tied to a hard wooden in a dingy apartment in God knows where. He searched the room looking for clues. The windows were boarded up, which meant he was in an abandoned building in one of the poorer neighborhoods of DC. If he started screaming for help the chances were no one would hear him, or if he did scream, they would ignore him.

"This sucks," he sighed.

The door to the room he was in opened up and the big man came in. Now that Tony had a chance to size him up he did. He looked to be six foot three, but wiry and slightly awkward. His face was feminine and his dark hair was slightly long.

"Oh goody, company," said Tony.

The man didn't say anything but walked up to Tony and slapped him with all his worth across the face. The force of the slap snapped Tony's head back.

"Now Herman, don't hurt him yet," said Heather Sloan.

She came into the room wearing jeans and an Ohio State University tee shirt. If he wasn't angry so far, he was pissed to see her in an OSU tee shirt.

"Hello Tony," she said.

"Heather. Or should I call you Enigma?" he asked.

"I'd appreciate that," she said.

"I aim to please," smiled Tony.

"Well, you were always a gentleman, Inspector," said Heather.

"You almost had a clean get away," he said. "Why come for me? You could have made an escape without a problem."

"I wasn't done playing with you," she said sounding like a woman who had no moral compass.

Tony felt a chill go down his spine. Heather walked up to Tony and then straddled his lap. She began to caress his hair and smile.

"We would have made a great team," said Heather.

"Team. Let me see, you kill them and I chase you?" asked Tony.

"Among other things," she purred.

He felt his stomach twist. She was making him sick. While the man watched, she began to grind away at Tony's lap. He gritted his teeth and forced himself not to react to her.

"Don't you enjoy me, Inspector," she said.

"You're fucking nuts," he growled.

She stopped then slapped him across the face hard. Tony smirked.

"Did you like to sit on daddy's lap?" he asked.

"This is not going to end slowly, Inspector. I am going to take my time with you," she said.

"Why me?" he growled.

"You killed Valentino. You were everyone's hero. I hate heroes," she said. "I always liked villains."

"Then date a biker and leave me alone," retorted Tony.

She got up off his lap then she started to pace the room.

"I thought about it. How did you defeat Valentino? It bothered me that you were able to do it and then it came to me. For you to have defeated Valentino you must have darkness inside of you equal to or greater than his. I was sure of it. I knew you just needed to be pushed to let that darkness out and then you be perfect like," she paused, "my father."

"You're father," Tony said.

"Daddy killed just like Valentino except he never got caught. He taught me how to do it and told me I was daddy's little girl," she explained.

Tony felt sick to his stomach. She wanted to corrupt him and turn him into a replacement for her daddy, who was a psychopath. He could taste the bile in his mouth he wanted to vomit so badly. She stopped pacing and stared at him.

"You figured out who I was because you as dark inside Inspector Batman. I just have to figure out a way of bringing out that darkness," she smiled.

"Trust me I'm not dark inside. I may be a little goofy and angry but not dark," he said.

"No, you have luscious darkness inside of you and I'm going to prove it to you," she said.

She exited the room for a moment leaving Tony with the bog guy. He didn't know what she had in mind to do with him, but he knew it wasn't going to be pleasant. Heather Sloan returned with a Glock 22 in her right hand and a large butcher knife in the other. She pointed the Glock at him.

"Thing, unite him," she said.

The guy began to untie Tony, who looked at the man.

"Thing, really?" he said then he looked at her. "You have to work on your pet names."

"Okay, Inspector Batman," she said.

Thing finished untying him. Tony stood up and shook the blood in to his hands and legs. He felt stiff. Tony looked at Thing.

"Do you talk?" he asked.

"Only when I have something to say," he answered.

"Enough!" she yelled.

She threw the knife and it stuck in the floor. A malicious smile crossed her face.

"The rules are simple. The winner lives and the loser dies. The knife is right there for the one who can get to it and use it," she said. "I'll be outside the door listening and watching. Put on a good show, Thing."

Tony noticed a small camera mounted in the corner on the ceiling. She left the room and locked the door. Tony looked at Thing.

"We don't have to fight," he said.

"No, but you have to die," Thing replied.

"I guess we do have to fight," he said then grabbed the chair and swung it at him.

NCIS

Ziva and Gibbs met with Hawes at Tony's apartment. He was gone. The two officers left in the patrol car were dead. They had been shot each three times. This was now a major fuckup. A crime scene team worked on the patrol car and another one the apartment.

Hawes was on his smartphone, "I want all the CCTV in this area reviewed. Let's find who did this and where they took the Inspector.

He hung up and looked at Gibbs and Ziva. They both looked like they were ready to walk across broken glass barefoot to find DiNozzo. He liked their loyalty.

"They'll check the CCTV quickly. Hopefully, it will get us something," said Hawes.

"I don't understand why she would do this. She must have known that we knew she was involved. Instead of lying low, she does this. Why?" asked Ziva.

"Because she nuts," answered Gibbs.

Hawes almost laughed. It was concise but as good an answer as you could give. Heather Sloan was fucking nuts.

"We have to hope she still wants to play a game with him," said Hawes.

"What sort of game?" Ziva growled.

"Any game she wants just as long as she keeps DiNozzo alive long enough for us to find him," said Gibbs.

"I agree," added Hawes.

"I want to kill this bitch," Ziva said.

NCIS

From her tablet, she watched the fight. It was brutal just as she expected it would be. Two men were fighting for their lives so how else would the fight go. They knew that to lose was to die. It brought the animal out. She especially liked watching how Inspector Batman reacted.

At first, he tried to fight to disable her man, but he couldn't. As the fight progressed, he became less and less civilized and more the man she knew he could be. By the end of the fight she was happy to see that Inspector Batman drove the knife into Thing's heart killing him then collapsed from injuries and exhaustion. She entered the room and laughed.

"Now that was dark," she said.

"Fuck you," Tony said.

What she didn't see was that Tony had taken the knife hidden in his belt buckle out and slipped it into Thing's pocket. If she dumped the body, then his belt knife would be a clue forever found it.

He had just had a brutal fight to the death and won and he was glad he won. _Was that what she considered darkness_? He killed the man she called Thing and so far he didn't feel any guilt. _Maybe that was the darkness she talked about, the lack of guilt_. Maybe he did have darkness inside of him.

She pointed the gun back at him and smiled.

"I want you to get back in the chair," she said.

Tony tried to stand up. He knew he had at least one broken rib. His nose was bleeding and he had a cut on his forehead that was bleeding. Other than that, he bumps and bruises from being punched and kicked.

"I mean it, Inspector," she said. "Get up now."

"You are one fucked up chick," he said then got to his feet and stumbled to the chair and sat down.

With care and precision, she tied him back up. Once that was down she dragged Thing out of the room by his feet. He then heard her dump the body down the stairs.

_She must own this place. God, I hope that McGee can do his computer whiz bang shit and find out that she owns this place. I need you Probie._

His body ached. _What next fresh hell just she have for me? _He listened as he heard some loud noises and then silence. Finally, he heard her coming back up the steps. She entered the room carrying a pan of water and facecloth. Bringing them over to him, she gently started to clean Tony up.

"Now that was a fight," she said. "Well done. Do you feel a little darker now?"

"No, I feel sore," he said.

"I saw him kick you a couple of times. You have must at least one broken rib," she said.

"I'm sure it won't be my last," Tony replied.

"Oh, Inspector, have a little faith. Remember, I want you to join me not die. Once I give you a shot to put you out cold, I'll take care of your ribs and the rest of your injuries," she said.

"Don't bother, I like my injuries," he snarled.

"Oh, I am going to take good care of you," she said.

She took a needle out of her back pocket then took the top off the needle. Tony sighed. He had no idea what she was about to give him, but there was part of him was glad to be knocked out. She stuck the needle in his right arm and released the contents into him.

"Don't worry you'll be out in thirty seconds then I'll patch you," she said.

Slowly, Tony felt the world get a little hazy then dimmed and finally the world went black.

NCIS

The elevator door opened and Ziva and Gibbs strode off the elevator and into the bullpen. While DiNozzo's team worked on finding him from their end, they would work on their end. Gibbs sat down then glared at McGee.

"I want you to go through Heather Sloan's financial record and see if she holds any property. I don't care if it's under a false name or a shell company, but if she owns a building, a house, a cabin, or some land, I want to know it and I want to know it ASAP," growled Gibbs.

"Yes, Boss," McGee said then he turned and started typing away on his computer.

Ziva sat for a second and considered praying. The last time she prayed was in Somalia. At first, she didn't think it did much good then she was rescued by Tony, McGee, and Gibbs and found herself wondering if her prayers had been answered.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Nineteen

Gibbs and Ziva waited patiently as McGee prepared information. After spending the night tracing Heather Sloan's financials, McGee had excitedly called them on their smartphones to give them good news. Ziva had been down in Abby's, while Gibbs was getting his sixth cup of coffee of the night, now day. One look at him, Gibbs knew McGee had something good.

"Now McGee," snapped Gibbs, as he held a hot cup of coffee.

McGee stood up, pressed the remote then brought up a street with several abandoned houses on it. Right up until he finally was able to find what she wanted hid, he felt exhausted, but now he was reinvigorated.

"This is the Cherry Hill neighborhood in Baltimore and Heather Sloan owes one of those abandoned buildings through a shell company," he told them.

"Grab your gear," said Gibbs then he threw his coffee into the nearest garbage can.

"Should we tell Metro, Gibbs?" asked Ziva.

"Baltimore is outside their jurisdiction, Ziver. We can check out this lead for them," Gibbs told her.

The three of them grabbed their sidearms from their desk drawers and headed off to their Dodge Charger. The drive to Baltimore was a silent one. Each one of them knew that they had a finite amount of time to hunt DiNozzo down and save him.

NCIS

Tony felt better. The crazy woman had bandaged his ribs, as well as his forehead. Whatever was in the needle also let him sleep which helped his body. He pulled at the ropes, but there was no give. Suddenly the door opened and Heather Sloan came walking in with a mug of coffee and oatmeal. She put them on a table that she pulled up close to Tony.

"It's breakfast time," she said.

"I'm not hungry," said Tony.

"You'll eat or I'll set up an IV to make sure that you are well fed," she said.

"Well in that case, Snookums is waiting for his breakfast," Tony said then he opened his mouth.

She grabbed the oatmeal and prepared to spoon-feed him. When Tony felt she was close enough, he snapped his forward and head-butted her with a good amount of force. She fell to the floor with a bloody nose and a laugh that sent a chill down Tony's spine.

"That wasn't nice, maybe even a little dark," she said.

"Untie me and I'll show you dark," he growled.

"Oh, I expect that you could," she laughed. "So, do you still want your coffee?"

"Drop dead," he said.

She left him alone in the room.

NCIS

They arrived at Cherry Hill in record time thanks to Gibbs' driving. When he finally came to a full stop, McGee almost vomited in the car, which drew a smirk from Gibbs. Ziva shot out of the car with Gibbs right behind her. McGee came up the rear.

"Ziver, McGee, take the back of the house through the yard. When you are in position let me know and we'll go in at the same time and do a floor by floor sweep," Gibbs said.

"Yes, Gibbs," said Ziva, who then motioned McGee to follow her.

When she and McGee got to the back of the house in the backyard was a dumpster with a chute that led to the second floor.

"She must be having this place renovated," said McGee.

He went up to the dumpster, grabbed a chair, stepped onto it, and checked what was in the dumpster. Under what looked like some wall plaster and a good size piece of rug was Thing.

"Ziva, there looks like a body in the dumpster," he said.

"Check it, McGee," said Ziva.

He awkwardly climbed into the dumpster and made his way to the body. Uncovering he saw the knife wound. Putting on a pair of gloves he had in his NCIS windbreaker, he started to go through the pockets of the dead man. He found Tony's knife.

"Ziva," he said in a whisper yell, "he had Tony's belt buckle knife in his pocket."

A charge of energy went through Ziva. Either Tony was there or he had been there. They were on the right track. She pulled the walkie-talkie off her belt and called Gibbs.

"Gibbs, McGee found a body in a dumpster in the backyard. He had Tony's knife in his pocket," she said into the walkie-talkie.

"_Let's enter the building, Ziver. Head on a swivel and shoot to kill_," Gibbs replied.

Ziva didn't wait for McGee to climb out of the dumpster but went in all by herself. The back door was unlocked. Gibbs tried the front door, it was unlocked. His gut didn't like this because it just seemed too easy.

NCIS

Tony stretched his legs, as he sat. Sloan didn't tie them to the chair this time, which allowed him to stretch them out. It felt good on his bad knee to stretch it out. As he sat there, she entered with a malicious smile on her face. She walked up to him and tied a gag around his mouth.

"We have company and they are friends of yours. Oh, the traps and pain I have planned for them before they die. You know one of them is the tramp you were humping," she said.

Tony struggled against the ropes, as she walked over to where she left her tablet, turned it on, and started to watch.

NCIS

Gibbs saw Ziva down a long hallway. He pointed to her and made motion letting her know to sweep the first floor because he was going to the second floor. She nodded okay and Gibbs headed for the stairs letting Ziva and McGee handle the first floor.

Slowly, he started up the stairs. He was a third of the up the stairs when his right foot went through the stair and some sort of trap closed around it breaking the bone. He growled in pain causing Ziva and a now filthy McGee running. When they got to him, Ziva was about to pull his leg out when McGee snapped at her, "Stopped!"

"What is it, McGee?" she said.

"Keep guard, Ziva, and I'll get his leg out. We don't know what trapped it, what condition it's in, or if there is another trap. I'll handle this. Go to the top of the stairs and keep guard," he said.

"Listen to him, Agent David," Gibbs growled in pain.

He feared like McGee feared that there was some sort of secondary trap.

"Be careful, McGee," Ziva said.

"Go on and slowly go up the stairs," said McGee.

Ziva slowly and carefully walked up the stairs testing each step as she went.

NCIS

"Oh, your friend Gibbs just has his leg broken," she smiled at Tony and your tramp is coming up the stairs. Isn't this exciting?"

Tony closed his eyes. He knew he had to stop her, kill her if he had to, and do it now. He concentrated on his alternatives and realized he didn't have many.

"I think the next trap should hurt, not kill, but hurt. The killer traps I get to spring from here," she said then showed him her tablet.

She must have the place bugged with traps and camera. Some of the traps sprung on their own but the fatal ones she sprung them. Yeah, he had to kill her and kill her know.

NCIS

McGee helped Gibbs to sit on the stairs. He was in great pain but he didn't want a bus called for.

"This bitch probably has more traps for us. We don't want to get EMTs killed. Find her," he growled.

"Okay, Boss," McGee said.

"Sweep the second floor with Ziva. Be careful," Gibbs ordered.

McGee nodded then joined Ziva at the top of the stairs.

"McGee, we have to check each room. Closed doors always hold surprises. I'll open the door…," she started to say.

"Ziva, I'm the SFA not you. I'll open the doors. You back me up," he ordered.

McGee slowly proceeded to the first closed door. Ziva had his six. He slowly turned the knob and when he felt or heard nothing out of the ordinary and started to open it. It was about an inch open when Ziva stopped him. She noticed a wire at the top of the door.

"McGee, stop. There is a wire," she said.

He stopped staying as still as a statue, while Ziva pulled her folding knife with a serrated edge. She moved up behind him and with great care cut the wire. Nothing happened.

"That was scary," said McGee then he started to open the door.

"Don't…," Ziva yelled.

A shotgun blast went off throwing McGee and Ziva back from the force. From his spot, Gibbs yelled from his spot, "McGee, Ziver!"

He forced himself up on one leg and started up the stairs. When he got to Ziva and McGee. They were both flat on their backs in pain. He checked Ziva first. She had a few shotgun slugs in her vest and her right upper arm was bleeding. He helped her into a seated position.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" he asked.

"I think I have a broken rib on my left side," she grimaced, "but I am fine otherwise."

He went over to McGee next. He was in greater pain, as his vest was peppered with slugs and his right shoulder was chewed up and bleeding from the shotgun.

"McGee, how bad?" he asked.

"I think I got several broken ribs," he groaned.

Gibbs shook his head. He didn't want to do this but it was time for backup.

NCIS

Tony heard the shotgun blast and his eyes lit up with fury. She was going to kill Gibbs, McGee, and Ziva. There was no way he was going to let her kill Ziva. Standing up as best he could and charging her, he rammed his body into hers knocking the tablet from her hands and crashing her into the wall. She laughed.

"That's it, let all your darkness out," she ordered him, as she stood up.

Tony swung the still tied to him chair at her knocking her towards the window. Before she could recover, he hit her again then again forcing her towards the window. His anger was driven by her laughter, as well as thoughts of her hurting Ziva. Finally, he had her up against the window. He hit her one more time this time with his shoulder driving her out of the window. As the glass gave way and she started to fall, she grabbed hold of Tony forcing him to come along with her. They both feel from the third story window, as they went they hit the garbage chute then continued into the dumpster. She landed first with Tony landing on top of her.

NCIS

The first thing he saw as he tried to open his eyes was Ziva staring at him with tears in her eyes. He was in an ambulance.

"You will be okay, Ahuvi," she said.

An EMT moved her aside and put an oxygen mask on Tony. Part of him wanted to scream. He was headed to the hospital once again. All he wanted to do now was close his eyes and hope he didn't have to spend too long on his ass in hospital room. There had to be an easier way to make a living.

Epilogue

He broke an arm, a leg, several ribs, and bruised his tailbone, other than he was fine. Hawes ran the MCU for him while he recuperated and he got daily visits from Abby and Ziva and even got a visit from Antonia and her father.

Enigma was dead. She might have survived the fall except for Tony landing on top of her. The case was closed. Commander Amara, the Chief, and the Mayor were thrilled that Enigma was caught and killed and it was done by Tony. He was their golden boy now.

Ziva came into the room with the wheelchair. Today was his release.

"Are you ready to go home?" she asked with a smile.

"I love you, Ziva David," said Tony.

"Good," she said, "because I will be living with you until you get all your casts off."

"Really, only until then," he smiled.

"Well, maybe longer," she said returning the smile. "We shall see."

"Take me home, please. I haven't seen a James Bond movie or a _Magnum PI_ marathon," he said, as she helped him to the edge of the bed.

"I will be glad to sit and watch James Bond and Magnum PI," she sighed.

"Can I have pizza?" he asked sounding like a little kid.

"Okay, you can have pizza today, but starting tomorrow I cook your meals," she said.

Next she helped him into the wheelchair. With his good arm, he pulled Ziva into his lap. She didn't fight it but instead captured his lips. Their kissed last until they both needed to come up for breathe.

"You are the best, Ziva David," he said.

"I know," she purred.

"I love you," Tony said.

"I know," she said then slipped out of his lap and got behind him.

Ziva started to push him out of the room. As she did she leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "And I love you, too."

**Let me know if you want any more Inspector DiNozzo mysteries. **


End file.
